Construction on the Carle at the Riverfront project will soon be underway.
Workers will break ground on the $70 million medical campus next Thursday, June 17 at 10 a.m. at the corner of Harrison and Robinson streets. The campus is expected to be completed next year, consolidating Carle’s existing facilities in the city into one location.
City Engineer Sam Cole told members of the city’s Public Works Committee Tuesday night that work at the intersection of Madison and Logan streets could begin in the next couple of weeks. He says Carle will be allowed to stage materials on Logan, but the street will be open for inbound traffic to OSF Sacred Heart Medical Center.
As part of the project, Logan Avenue will eventually be closed south of Madison, and Cole says the stop light at Logan and Main Street will be removed.
Cole says that he is finalizing easements with Kirchner Building Center to relocate its storage lot farther to the north, in order to reconstruct West Williams Street to make it a continuous route between Gilbert and Logan. That project would likely happen next year.
In other news, Public Works Director Carl Carpenter says the former Arnholt Bakery building (pictured) in the 200-block of Fairchild Street will be torn down soon. The Arnholt family is paying for the bakery and the house next door to be demolished. The bakery operated for 77 years before closing in 2006. Carpenter also says approximately 20 abandoned structures are set to be demolished in the next month.
