Future possibilities for downtown Crystal Lake include festival street, skating rink and bandshell

A sculpture or some other installation highlighting Crystal Lake’s ice harvesting past could someday greet commuters and visitors getting off the Metra.

The idea was one of several recently presented to the City Council by Teska Associates Inc., along with a bandshell, ice skating rink and the conversion of Railroad Street into a “festival” street that could be closed for traffic to host events periodically, and adding seating areas throughout downtown.

The landscape architecture firm was hired by the city for $12,500 to assess potential options for renovating public spaces downtown and present preliminary design concepts.

Several City Council members, as well as Mayor Haig Haleblian, expressed interested in the sculpture or attraction based on Crystal Lake’s history as an ice harvesting town in particular.

“I’m a big believer in art downtown,” Haleblian said. “We want that ‘wow’ factor when someone steps off the train here. To identify for anyone coming in that they are in Crystal Lake.”

A community poll conducted by Teska during the fall, which received over 800 responses and 1,700 comments, showed both an appreciation of the downtown area and a desire for the public spaces there to be developed further, said Jodi Mariano, a principal landscape architect with Teska.

“People already like downtown,” Mariano said. “It’s quaint, charming, safe, clean and accessible. But people want more of the good things: places to gather, to dine, more landscaping. People like flexible spaces that can function in various ways.”

Several board members questioned how train traffic would affect the viability of options, including the bandshell.

In the near future, the city will apply for grants and continue to gather community feedback, particularly on the idea of the festival street, said Katie Cowlin, the city’s director for community development.

Once city staff has determined which projects to proceed with and received the council’s approval, Teska will begin preparing final designs and engineering to guide construction, Mariano said.

“It’s heartwarming to see community support [for downtown events],” Cowlin said. “It gets us that push to continue moving forward. Teska knocked it out of the park. Their designs are fabulous.”