Montgomery officials OK final designs for memorial plazas, stage area in downtown park

Concept plan for a proposed mobile concert pavilion in Montgomery Park, at Mill Street and North River Street in downtown Montgomery.

If all goes as planned, one year from now visitors to Montgomery Park in downtown Montgomery will find two new memorial plazas and a platform/plaza area for concerts and other gatherings.

The memorial plazas, one dedicated to veterans and first responders and the other to essential workers, will be located in the north section of the park overlooking the Fox River, while the stage area will be situated just north of Mill Street, east of North River Street.

Visitors will also find the stone wall by the historic old mill turbine that sits along the riverbank refurbished. The wall was installed by workers for the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression in the 1930s.

The Village Board voiced unanimous support for the final designs for the park improvements as presented by Greg Sagan of the Signature Design Group of Naperville, during a meeting Monday evening, Sept. 12.

Sagan told board members his firm will now ready contractor bid packets for the board to approve in January so that the village will be able to seek bids and award a contract for the project in March.

Construction of the improvements would start in April with completion expected prior to next August when Montgomery Park serves as the site of the annual Montgomery Fest community celebration.

Sagan told board members that the platform/plaza area will be elevated and designed to accommodate a mobile stage for concerts.

When not in use as a stage area, the elevated platform/plaza area will be shaded by colorful fabric sails hung on poles and serve as a gathering and seating area.

Rendering of the proposed multi-use area pavilion in Montgomery Park. (Courtesy of The Signature Design Group)

Each of the two memorial plazas will feature brick pavers and granite markers.

The WPA-installed stone wall adjoining the turbine will be taken down and rebuilt using as much of the original stone as possible, Sagan said.

The village will coordinate the improvements with the Fox Valley Park District, which owns and maintains the park.

To finance the improvements, village officials plan to use a combination of village revenues and grants.

Earlier this year, State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, secured a $200,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity to fund the veterans memorial.

Additionally, the village has been awarded a $10,000 ComEd Green Region Open Lands Grant that will help cover costs related to the shoreline restoration.