St. Charles City Council approves construction bid for First Street Plaza expansion project

The second and final phase of the First Street Plaza expansion project is expected to get underway in the coming weeks after the majority of alderpersons at the St. Charles City Council meeting March 20 approved awarding a $4.3 million bid for the project’s second phase to Martam Construction.

The firm also did the project’s first phase.

Voting no were 1st Ward Alderperson Ronald Silkaitis and 2nd Ward Alderperson Rita Payleitner.

The project will be substantially completed by November, Public Works Director Peter Suhr said. The bid is about $1.2 million more than the city had estimated for the project’s second phase.

“We’re confident that it represents the current market cost for this type of construction,” Suhr said.

The St. Charles Initiative, an independent advisory committee under the umbrella of the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley, is raising funds for the project. The St. Charles Initiative has raised about $671,621 in donations and pledges designated for phase two, Suhr said. The remaining $3.6 million would be the net cost to the city, Suhr said.

The first phase included building a retaining wall along the Fox River and filling in the hole where the Manor Restaurant had been located after its demolition.

The second phase of the project includes constructing a large egg-shaped gathering plaza that is surrounded by a solar panel covered trellis and walking paths.

Plans also call for closing a section of First Street to vehicles to create a pedestrian walkway.

Site acquisition, design and construction costs for the first phase were about $2 million. With grants and donations totaling $794,171 – including a $600,000 grant from Exelon and a $56,153 Kane County Riverboat Grant – the city paid $1.2 million in net costs.

“With a total project cost of over $5 million, I do feel strongly that the city should be responsible for the First Street portion of the project, which is $1.2 million,” Payleitner said. “That puts the city’s total with phase 1 and phase 2 at about half of the total contribution.”

Plaza construction will cost $3 million. The First Street construction work will cost about $1.2 million.

“With the remaining balance, I’m confident that the St. Charles Initiative should and could complete their fundraising for the egg portion of it,” she said. “The egg was pretty much the Initiative’s baby. They designed it and moved it forward.”