DANVILLE — The priorities for the city’s next 20-years are focusing on making Danville a “thriving small city where people want to live, visit, and invest.”
Logan Cronk, Community Development Administrator, thanked the public for their involvement with the 20-year plan, with over 700 residents participating.
“This was a massive undertaking,” Cronk said. “You’ll see the public participation was great. This isn’t just them or the city writing this. This is the entire City of Danville, and we’re seeking your blessing after this presentation tonight to go ahead and adopt”
David Sidney and Sean Ager, consultants with Place Foundry out of Rockford, gave a presentation at Tuesday’s Public Works Meeting for their 20-year plan.
“You’re the hub of the county,” Sidney said. “You have a lot of assets with your parks, Lake Vermillion being one.’’
Many people in this process said, “How can that become a greater asset utilized by the public?”
Sidney also said public safety was paramount among the participants.
“In our survey process, street ratings came in averaging 2.6 out of five scale in terms of conditions,” he said.
Sidney said while the city has taken hits in the manufacturing sector, the city appears to be seeing some sort of ‘uptick.’
Ager says they will do this with a focus on making Danville, “a thriving small city where people want to live, visit, and invest, a place where innovation meets nature, opportunity meets community, and heritage meets future. We are a resilient, resilient community built through authentic relationships and collaboration.”
There will be four phases of the plan.
“It launches in 2026, and it’s going to run through four phases that we sort of outlined and project going through 2050,” Ager said. The first phase is full of ‘pathfinder projects’ and focus areas with smaller projects.’’
Road work near the Lynch Road corridor is a priority.
“Streets and sidewalks were some of the lower-rated things when we did our community surveys, and so you know, really understanding where that investment needs to go, and so that investment is really tied to the focus areas,” Ager added. “We’re looking at manufacturing, logistics, workforce mobility, recreation access, and downtown vitality.”
The pair highlighted Danville’s parks.
“The parks were something that were constantly brought up as one of the strongest assets for the community,” Ager said. “There are already current tournaments and visitor spending coming in, and we really think that’s something that Danville can continue to build and be a great return on investment for them.”
Ager said they are focusing on connecting the Kickapoo Rail Trail to connect all of Danville recreationally. As for sports economy, the focus is mostly on ‘sports tourism.’
Ager added that the Vermilion County Regional Airport is also a ‘strong asset’ to the city’s economy.
“It doesn’t recommend shrinking the city,” Ager said with a focus on current infrastructure. “It really is focused on making everything work harder.”
Cronk reminded the public that this plan is not set in stone. And Ager added comprehensive plans are “intended to be updated every 5-10 years,” plus the end-goal is “national recognition.”
“This is not a permanent plan,” Cronk added. “This is a fluid plan that should be updated whenever things change, right? So everybody needs to understand that.”
The full plan will go to the council for approval on Tuesday.