Frankfort already has what many other small towns would like to achieve.
The village in Will County has a full and scenic downtown. There are no business vacancies. Storefronts are full. Businesses have a historic and unique feel, and they surround an attractive open space, Breidert Green.
Breidert Green is a passive recreation space. There are no ball diamonds or tennis courts. What it is, instead, is a sort of community gathering space. There are sitting places and plenty of activities where you can bring your lawn chair and absorb entertainment.
There are: Cruisin’ Frankfort car shows on Mondays; Movies on the Green three Tuesdays during the summer; a fishing derby; the Fourth of July fireworks; a Bluegrass Fest July 13-14; a Night Out Against Crime; Scary on the Prairie 5K; Ghost Stories on the Green; and a Christkindl Weekend, among many other activities.
It becomes the place where everyone wants to go and where everyone wants to do business. The downtown has a local feel. It is not the collection of franchises seen everywhere across the country.
Outside the downtown, Frankfort does have commercial strips outside the downtown area along U.S. Route 45, running north and south, and U.S. Route 30, running east and west.
Michael J. Schwarz, the director of community and economic development for the village, explains that downtown Frankfort did not develop accidentally or by happenstance. Instead, it is the product of a long-term goal.
Frankfort adopted a zoning ordinance in 1976 and has an active historic preservation commission. The idea is to have an 1890s “look and feel.” Any exterior changes within the historic district require a “certificate of appropriateness.”
Because of its character, Frankfort is a “Certified Local Government.” That helps it gather in some state funds. Two years ago there was an inventory of historic buildings, done with a $25,000 grant, which identified an astounding 213 structures 50 years or older. Schwarz said Frankfort has a great number of buildings that date back a century.
Frankfort, Schwarz said, has everything. There is a great sense of community, a small-town feel, with strong schools, low crime and access to all the activities of Chicago.
Schwarz loves the idea of city planning and helping to shape the town in a positive way.
“It is very rewarding,” he said.
To keep things going, Frankfort completed a comprehensive plan in 2019, titled “Your Future Your Frankfort,” which takes the design out to 2040. In 2020 Schwarz explained, the plan won the Best Plan of the Year award in the state from the Illinois Division of the American Planning Association, a group with links back to historic planner Daniel Burnham, the man responsible for Chicago’s lakefront.
Schwarz said that exciting projects are on the way. A developer has purchased the site of the former Borg-Warner transmission factory. The 25-acre site will become a mix of single-family and townhomes. It will be the first home development of scale in the downtown area in 15 years, Schwarz said.
Started in 1855 and named, in part, for the German city of Frankfurt, the Illinois Frankfort is a prosperous and growing community. Frankfort has an astounding 700 business licenses for only 20,296 residents. Last year the village had a healthy 55 permits for new residential construction. So far in 2024, there have already been 65 residential building permits in the first six months.
Thus, Schwarz describes the community of having a “healthy mix” between people who work close to their homes and those who commute.
Schwarz said a new business building is going up on the east side of White Street. The four-unit multi-tenant structure will have spaces for a pediatric dentist, a sushi shop, a healthy smoothie business and a bakery store.
The community is also noted for its history and recreation. The Lincoln Highway, U.S. Route 30, was the first paved road crossing the continent, helping to bring travel “out of the mud.” Route 30 and the legendary Route 66 cross at nearby Joliet.
In terms of modern recreational travel, the Old Plank Road Trail, which evolved into a single line railroad, was converted into a bicycle trail. A scenic white A-frame carries the trail over U.S. Route 45. The trail heads east to the Indiana state line, where Hoosier authorities hope to lengthen it.
Frankfort runs its own water and sewer department, as well as having its own municipal police force. Firefighting is handled by a separate fire protection district, a paid department which is its own taxing body.
Elementary education is provided by the Lincoln-Way and Summit Hill school district, which feed into the Lincoln-Way high school system. Frankfort is served by Lincoln-Way East, which is a powerhouse in many sports.
In terms of parks, the village runs some park facilities and there is also a Frankfort Park District and a Frankfort Square Park District. The downtown Breidert Green is a village park, that is well-landscaped and maintained, with scrupulously clean restroom facilities.
In Frankfort, the village board meets at 7 p.m. on the first and third Mondays of the month. The meetings are broadcast live on Youtube. Mayor Keith Ogle’s State of the Village address can be accessed on the village website at www.frankfortil.org
Frankfort has had one famous resident from baseball history. The late Lou Boudreau was the shortstop and player-manager of the Cleveland Indians in the 1940s. Player-managers are no longer in vogue, but Boudreau guided the Indians to the 1948 World Series championship. He was also a longtime radio voice of the Chicago Cubs on WGN-AM.
He’s enshrined in the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.