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Berwyn’s schools, parks, library and streets are poised to receive major overhauls as the city celebrates a long-delayed $31 billion state construction bill created to promote job growth and help stimulate the state’s lagging economy.
Although the bill has been sitting on Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk since it won approval in late May, the governor did not sign the initiative until Monday, July 13. Included in the massive spending bill are $1.5 million for each of the city’s park districts, $5 million for Morton College, $120,000 for the library, $500,000 for city street resurfacing and nearly $2 million more for schools, city building repairs and the police and fire departments.
The funding is the result of Mayor Robert Lovero and several aldermen’s lobbying efforts in the days leading up to the bill’s approval by the Illinois General Assembly. The group met with all seven of Berwyn’s legislators after compiling a wish list from all of the city’s governing bodies.
“We went down there with the kitchen sink, but based on my notes and what we’re getting here, we had to have gotten at least 70 to 75 percent of what we asked for, if not more,” Lovero said.
Whatever entity it was, we didn’t care. We just wanted any Berwyn entity to get as much as they possibly could so we lobbied on behalf of all of them.”
The North Berwyn Park District came out as one of the bill’s major benefactors, with $1 million granted to help the district move forward with plans to revitalize the aging Cuyler Pool and surrounding park space.
Park District Director Joe Vallez said the district will replace the pool with an interactive zero-depth water park, revamp the playground with state-of-the-art equipment and eliminate the two streets separating the park’s three parcels to create a large open park space with enhanced landscaping.
“That neighborhood really is starved of usable park space,” Vallez said. “I think once this project is complete, it will be the most exciting addition to the city in many years.”
Provided the funding comes through, Vallez said the district hopes to have the new park ready for use by mid-summer next year.
Other winners in the bill include Morton College, which is expected to receive $5 million to fund general capital improvement projects on its campus. The town of Cicero is likely to receive $5 million to construct an aquatics center that has been scouted as a possible 2016 Olympics site, should Chicago win the bid, said state Sen. Martin Sandoval, D-12th District.
Berwyn’s schools, parks, library and streets are poised to receive major overhauls as the city celebrates a long-delayed $31 billion state construction bill created to promote job growth and help stimulate the state’s lagging economy.
Although the bill has been sitting on Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk since it won approval in late May, the governor did not sign the initiative until Monday, July 13. Included in the massive spending bill are $1.5 million for each of the city’s park districts, $5 million for Morton College, $120,000 for the library, $500,000 for city street resurfacing and nearly $2 million more for schools, city building repairs and the police and fire departments.
The funding is the result of Mayor Robert Lovero and several aldermen’s lobbying efforts in the days leading up to the bill’s approval by the Illinois General Assembly. The group met with all seven of Berwyn’s legislators after compiling a wish list from all of the city’s governing bodies.
“We went down there with the kitchen sink, but based on my notes and what we’re getting here, we had to have gotten at least 70 to 75 percent of what we asked for, if not more,” Lovero said.
Whatever entity it was, we didn’t care. We just wanted any Berwyn entity to get as much as they possibly could so we lobbied on behalf of all of them.”
The North Berwyn Park District came out as one of the bill’s major benefactors, with $1 million granted to help the district move forward with plans to revitalize the aging Cuyler Pool and surrounding park space.
Park District Director Joe Vallez said the district will replace the pool with an interactive zero-depth water park, revamp the playground with state-of-the-art equipment and eliminate the two streets separating the park’s three parcels to create a large open park space with enhanced landscaping.
“That neighborhood really is starved of usable park space,” Vallez said. “I think once this project is complete, it will be the most exciting addition to the city in many years.”
Provided the funding comes through, Vallez said the district hopes to have the new park ready for use by mid-summer next year.
Other winners in the bill include Morton College, which is expected to receive $5 million to fund general capital improvement projects on its campus. The town of Cicero is likely to receive $5 million to construct an aquatics center that has been scouted as a possible 2016 Olympics site, should Chicago win the bid, said state Sen. Martin Sandoval, D-12th District.
Lovero credited Sandoval, along with Berwyn’s six other state legislators — Rep. Lisa Hernandez, D-24th District; Rep. Daniel Burke, D-23rd District; Rep. LaShawn Ford, D-8th District; Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-4th District; Sen. Louis S. Viverito, D-11th District, and Rep. Micahael Zalewski, D-21st District — with being able to fight for Berwyn’s share of funding after city officials met with the representatives.
“I take very seriously that my job is to bring money back to Berwyn taxpayers,” Sandoval said.
The bill is the first major job creation and capital improvement proposal approved since former Gov. George Ryan’s administration a decade ago.
“With President Barack Obama and the federal government passing a stimulus package, we knew on a state level we had to pass our own jobs program,” Sandoval said.
Quinn had originally promised to keep the capital construction bill politically separated from the state budget debate.
But as the battle over closing a $9 billion gap in the state budget dragged on, Quinn said he would not sign the bill until lawmakers presented him with a balanced budget. On Thursday, July 9, however, Quinn appeared to have another change of heart, spurred by the need to get the money flowing if the bill had any chance of generating the jobs it was created for before the end of the construction season, now already nearly half over.
Sandoval said the bill’s enactment was vital to not only creating jobs but in helping to solve the state’s budget crisis.
“(The bill) puts people to work, and if people go to work, they can go buy washing machines and dryers, and that allows us to plug the hole in our budget,” Sandoval said.
