FRANKFORT
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Businesses to get grants to spruce up
Retailers moving to downtown Frankfort could find a touch of green added to their welcome mat.
A retail grant program approved by the Village Board this week will allow grants of up to $10,000 for new business owners to use to upgrade the appearance or safety of their building, but not for operating expenses.
Retail shops and restaurants that are new to the downtown area and commit to remaining there for at least three years are eligible to apply.
Trustee Todd Morgan said $50,000 is set aside in this year’s budget to fund the grants.
The goal of the grant program suggested by the Downtown Frankfort Organization, a group of Frankfort business people and residents, is to create incentives for new businesses, Morgan said.
— Pat Harper
ORLAND PARK
Ravinia Ave. closing for improvements
A mile stretch of Ravinia Avenue will be closed for a week beginning Tuesday to make way for a full reconstruction of the road, village officials said.
The repair will also include improved sidewalks, curbs, sewers and a future intersection upgrade at 156th Street.
“Ravinia Avenue has become a major thoroughfare in Orland Park, and our crews are doing a great job with these critical improvements,” said Village Trustee Bernie Murphy.
The road, informally called the village’s municipal corridor because the Village Hall, the library and the police station are all located there, will be closed to traffic from 153rd through 159th Streets from Tuesday to Aug. 18. Through-traffic also will not be permitted on West Avenue south of 153rd Street, officials said.
Drivers who use Ravinia are being asked to use La Grange Road or 108th Avenue as alternate routes. “The Ravinia Avenue reconstruction is the most extensive and complicated project in the 2009 Road Improvement program,” Murphy said.
— Carmen Greco Jr.
PALOS HEIGHTS
City to add parking along Harlem Avenue
Making good on a pledge to secure more parking for the city’s main business strip, Palos Heights has bought an office building/former Chinese eatery on Harlem Avenue for a future municipal parking lot and site for city events.
The property at 12217 S. Harlem Ave., which is owned by Clifford Randall and John Stopka, two physicians, has about 45 parking spaces.
The City Council this week voted to buy the property for $284,500 and will work out a lease agreement with the owners that allows them to remain for a year so they can continue seeing patients. At the end of the year, the city plans to demolish the building to use the entire space for parking and events. The city recently received about $250,000 in state funds for parking construction.
Mayor Bob Straz said before the meeting the site would likely be used for the city’s farmers market and various downtown festivals. Straz said a number of residents and business owners over the years had complained about the lack of parking on Harlem.
The city plans to add decorative lights to Harlem in coming months to make the business strip more inviting for shoppers.
— Janice Neumann
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TINLEY PARK
Detention pond to get native wetland plants
A year-old detention pond intended to support a natural ecosystem will sport native wetland plants and vegetation under a contract approved this week by village officials.
Village trustees unanimously approved a bid from Tinley Park-based Carlin-Moran Landscape for the $90,000 project near the intersection of Oak Park Avenue and 167th Street.
The new vegetation will replace temporary grasses planted in the summer of 2008 to prevent erosion at the Tinley Terrace Detention Pond at 66th Avenue.
Village officials accepted Carlin-Moran’s bid of $92,325 with the understanding that the firm would reduce work to fit the amount budgeted for the 2-acre pond.
— Dennis Sullivan