The mayors of North Utica, La Salle, Peru and Spring Valley appeared at the 2026 State of the Cities Luncheon to provide residents with a review of the year’s progress, an update on the state of current projects, the status of future initiatives and plans for continuing to improve the Illinois Valley region.

In a discussion moderated by outgoing Illinois Valley Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Bill Zens, the mayors spoke about acquiring resources, improving public spaces and garnering attention for their municipalities.

Utica mayor Dave Stewart spoke about the Market on Mill, a retail plaza that serves as a launchpad for small businesses in the village.

“It’s the most popular topic that I’ve probably covered over the last couple of years here,” he said. “This year, I get to talk about the functionality of it versus the actual building.”

Stewart was pleased with the first year of the plaza, while acknowledging that there’s room for improvement in 2026 and beyond.

Stewart also discussed the future addition of sidewalks, crosswalks and lighting on the sound end of the village along the west side of Route 178 from Johnson Street to the police station, thanks to funding from an Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program grant. The project will begin in 2027 or 2028, and accomplish something the village had been trying to get done for 15-20 years.

Also in Utica’s future is an I&M Canal project that Stewart said is currently in the permit phase.

“We’re trying to take a section of the canal within the city limits of Utica to build two temporary sandbag berms and filling it with storm water runoff from all the streets and municipal water, and add to get it to a certain level that they think will kill off the vegetation there,” he said.

Peru Mayor Ken Kolowski shared a pair of additions the city made in 2025 as the biggest updates for this year’s State of the Cities address.

The city added chillers at the Schweikert Arena ice rink and a concrete path at Baker Lake.

The chillers helped double the length of the skating season for patrons.

“It was nice to see a lot of kids and families,” Kolowski said. “When you have ice skating and a winter activity like that for the whole entire winter, we didn’t have to worry about Mother Nature.”

The new concrete path at Baker Lake was completed last week after beginning in October 2025, although Kolowski said the path is just the beginning for Baker Lake.

“The path has been going over fantastic,” he said. “We’re going to continue to grow Baker Lake. We want to stock it with fish, we want to beautify it.”

Kolowski said the biggest economic development of the year for Peru was the $100 million expansion of the Eakas Corporation in the city. The automotive supplier is constructing a new 280,000 square foot multi-level industrial warehouse, which Kolowski said will bring in about 100 jobs.

“It’s very exciting,” he said. “Any time a company can expand like that, it’s good for everybody.”

Kolowski looked into the future with a pair of projects, the Connect 138 initiative and the sports complex, to help the city of Peru. Connect 138 is a $20-25 million project to enhance the Peru power and generation system in the hopes of attracting more business.

“I think all the mayors can agree that one of the biggest challenges right now is power,” he said. “Everybody wants these factories and things like that, but if somebody comes into town and you don’t have the power to do it you have to tell them no.”

Kolowski said that Peru is pushing hard for a sports complex, and taking steps to make it happen.

“We’re continuing to pursue the sports complex. We sent our team last year to the biggest Vegas retail show just to go out and feel it out. This year we’re taking a book in a booth,” he said. “We’re doing everything. We’re going to put the Illinois Valley on the map. We’re going to sell Peru in this region really hard. This would change the entire region. Everybody will benefit for something like this.”

La Salle Mayor Jeff Grove emphasized the city’s motivation to connect people in more ways than one.

He celebrated the settling of four union contracts in the city before the April 30 deadline.

“This is important to me,” he said. “I think it’s important to show respect for the groups that we work with.”

Grove spoke candidly about La Salle’s issue with fiber optic, as it experiences hang-ups with the Environmental Protection Agency clean-up in town.

“Some yards are being mitigated, some yards have been mitigated,” he said. “We appreciate that we have a relationship with the EPA and when we get the information, we can share that with a potential vendor.”

Grove also outlined a plan for the site of the Kaskaskia Hotel, which is a shift from prior stated plans by the city.

“Just for the record, I want that Kaskaskia down,” he said. “I want a nice green spot in the middle of town where we can have our events.”

Grove acknowledged the need for partnership with the hotel’s ownership in making that happen.

“As CL Industry is trying to come up with a plan for the Kaskaskia, we as the city are going parallel through litigation to hopefully get control of that property,” he said.

Grove highlighted a city initiative for the community to spend at local businesses, La Salle Bucks.

“La Salle Bucks are basically like a gift card for La Salle businesses and I’d say probably 95% of our businesses are on board with it,” he said. “You try to keep it local, which is what we’re all trying to do.”

Spring Valley Mayor Melanie Thompson noted the year of progress her municipality had in the form of projects, grants and community safety.

The main project was the Spring Valley Community Event Center, which Thompson said was emblematic of the collaboration of people for a communal purpose.

“I don’t see projects completed. I see people coming together,” she said. “What began as a vision, even after facing setbacks, became a reality because this community refused to give up.”

Thompson cited local fundraising, volunteer efforts and resident support as keys to helping realize the potential of the community center.

“We created something far greater than a building,” she said. “We created a space for connection, a place where you can grow, families can gather and where our community can stand together.”

Along with the event center, several public spaces were buoyed by projects supported by grants in Spring Valley.

One such space was the mini-park, which added new concession stand space with public restrooms, outdoor dining seating and a fire pit with chairs and tables, all donated by members of that community.

“That space quickly became a gathering place during our summer events,” Thompson said. “It was filled with families, laughter and connection.”

Downtown Spring Valley may get spruced up in the near future after Thompson announced that plans are in the works to use a $695,000 Downtown Revitalization Grant on enhanced downtown lighting, a bandstand expansion, sidewalk improvements and improved parking.

“This is more than an infrastructure,” she said. “This is about creating a downtown where people want to gather, where businesses can grow and where our community can come to life.”

Kirby Park saw several improvements in the last year and will continue to be an area of focus for Spring Valley.

“We networked with Hall High School and volunteer community members, and we were able to completely renovate the field,” Thompson said. “We have new fencing, a new grass infield and an irrigation system.”

Between an OSLAD grant in 2024 and a $245,000 grant, Spring Valley is going to develop a new baseball and softball diamond, as well as purchase additional land to create a multi-field complex with parking and concessions.

Thompson was able to announce that residents will be helped more directly thanks to a $650,000 Community Block Grant, aimed at rehabilitating low-income housing, the third such grant Spring Valley has received.

“These allow us to take certain sections of town with lower-income areas, and they’ll come in and completely rehab those houses for citizens that can’t afford to do so,” she said.