Champaign City Council approved new Garden Hills construction
By Patricia Bradford | November 14, 2023
CHAMPAIGN – The Champaign City Council voted Tuesday to begin Garden Hills Project Phase two and three, a $35 million construction project for the Garden Hills stormwater detention basin and neighborhood park.
This comes after decades of residents’ concerns as inordinate levels of poverty, gun violence and vacant homes continue to rise in the area. There is also another concern, a lack of infrastructure, such as storm sewers and streetlights continuously putting residents in danger.
Originally built in the 1950s as a suburban subdivision outside of city limits, the neighborhood, now well within the city, serves a substantial Black population. Yet, it still has few sidewalks and inadequate storm sewers often causing flooded homes.
“I have been a part of the government here for 29 years. Everybody said we can’t afford Garden Hills infrastructure.” City Manager Dorothy Ann David said. “But it would be awful if this moment went by and we didn’t thank all the city council for making this happen. This is a historic vote on this project. Tonight’s a big deal.”
The City of Champaign’s improvement project for the Garden Hills neighborhood received a $2 million boost from Champaign County. This is thanks to the $40 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding the county received over the past two years. These funds are intended to help pay for sidewalks and lighting improvements in the Garden Hills neighborhood, located on the northwest side of the city.
“The ARPA funding from the federal government allowed this project to move at a better clip. We might have gotten there in 10 years without the (Champaign County) board putting $2 million into the project.” Mayor Deborah Feinen said.
Champaign City Manager Dorothy David Initially said phases two and three of the Garden Hills project were estimated to run $39.7 million, however, its final costs will run significantly higher due to high rates of inflation.
Previous and long-standing board members have received years of backlash and scrutiny as resident concerns have gone untouched. This will be a metamorphic change to the neighborhood and include plenty of infrastructure improvements. This project is a long time coming and is estimated to take two years to complete, according to the board.
“This time the dollars make a lot of sense. A lot of people don’t have hope and they don’t believe city councils care about all neighborhoods but with this project, they can see it” Deputy Will Kyles said “What we need to do is figure out how to communicate those things.”
As one of two Black council members, Kyles expressed sincere admiration for the new improvements to come, exclaiming how exciting and important this piece of improvement will be for the community.
This project is one of many ways the council hopes to reunify the community. As community members, asking questions and voicing concerns to all city council members is what helped push this project along. By developing those relationships members can continue to make meaningful improvements to the city they call home.