By Stephen Nelson
The Kankakee City Council at their Monday, February 6, meeting approved contracts with Mad Bomber Fireworks Productions to put on two displays this summer – one for the Juneteenth holiday and the other for the July 4 holiday.
Mayor Chris Curtis expressed concern about continued rising costs for the events. He said the cost of the Juneteenth show would be $8,000, up $1,000 from last year. The cost of the July 4 show for this year will be $40,000, up from $24,000 a year ago. Curtis said the city again will be actively looking for sponsors to defray the costs. Last year, People’s Bank of Kankakee County foot the entire cost for the July 4 show.
In other business, the council approved contracts with Teska Associates, Inc., for assessment and development plans for two downtown areas. The first is known as the West Avenue Corridor. There, for $53,410, Teska will do a study of the streetscape and parking availability. Kankakee officials are touting the stretch a prime area for future commercial development. The second area to be studied is Dearborn Square. Of immediate concern to the city is removal of a deteriorating parking deck. Teska will study the costs associated with that. That contract is worth an additional $43,380.
Finally, the council approved the use of state grant money to purchase two properties adjacent to each other in the 200 block of West River Street, as part of the ambitious Riverwalk Project that has long been touted as a way to attract more tourists to Kankakee.