Oswego residents had the opportunity to view plans for the construction of an outdoor amphitheater on the village's far west side during a socially distanced open house held at Village Hall Wednesday, July 1.

The village hosted the gathering to gain input from residents on the facility planned for construction west of the Oswego Junction shopping center at the northwest corner of Orchard and Mill roads. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway tracks borders the project site to the north.

To accommodate those who did not feel comfortable attending the open house amid the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, the village created a page on its website to view exhibits, submit comments and ask questions of architects and village staff.

The village board voted in October to accept the donation of the three acre project site from Kevin Fialko, Oswego Junction owner. Under terms of the donation agreement, the village is required to develop a "venue for outdoor live performance and music entertainment and events to be enjoyed by the public" on the site within three years.

During the open house, residents spoke with village staff, projects designers, and architects from Williams Architects of Itasca, which prepared the designs for the facility. Village officials also presented displays illustrating the acoustics and noise at the amphitheater, relative to the stage location, and provided comparison sketches of two possible designs for the band shell.

In the first stage of construction, estimated to cost $750,000, the covered stage (without support facilities) would be built, as well as a graded and seeded lawn and an asphalt service drive. Other amenities that would come later as funds allow, include a playground, additional sidewalks, increased lawn space, and an additional food truck food court that would serve as an auxiliary use to the venue.

According to Mike Schoppe of Schoppe Design Associates, the current timeline for Phase 1 would see construction begin in the fall and be completed in spring or summer of 2021.

Seating at the amphitheater would follow any state guidelines regarding large gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic, Schoppe stated.

"Hopefully by the time this is ready to open next summer, this will all be behind us. But if it's not, we will adjust," he added.

Village President Troy Parlier said the timeline for the facility's construction is not set in stone.

Parlier, who praised the response that community members had to the open house and the questions they posed to him and village officials, said that plans could change depending on the village's budget situation amid the pandemic.

"We still have time to see how the damage from this (pandemic) is going to flow," he said, explaining that final votes on the project will not come from the village board until later this year or early next year.

Parlier also addressed concerns from residents who questioned why the village chose to go forward with the project now, instead of further in the timeline as permitted under the agreement with Fialko.

"It hasn't been fast-tracked. We started this over a year ago, and it's been some time," he said.

The reason why the project has moved forward, Parlier explained, is related to the village's application to the state for a $750,000 Fast Track grant to finance the project.

To qualify for the grant, a village's project must be "shovel ready" or has been architecturally reviewed and featured in a public open house.

"The opportunity to get part of that $250 million grant to pay for this we had to escalate this through," Parlier said.

The village did allocate $750,000 in the budget for the project, which came from the sale of the former Oswego Police Department station on Route 34.

"The overriding factor is the safety of the village with COVID," Parlier said.

An answer on whether the village will receive the state grant is expected within a month, he said. If the project does not qualify, village trustees have previously discussed options for how to proceed.

In a prior trustee meeting, Parlier said, he laid out a plan for preparing for possible budget shortfalls.

"So far everything that I talked about is playing out as we talked about, so there's no surprises for us as of right now," he said. Further information on the financial impact of the pandemic on the village's budget is expected to arrive soon, but "for right now, everything is playing according to what I talked about a few meetings ago.

"No panic yet," Parlier said.