A block of Archer Avenue is being vacated by the City of Monmouth for the construction of a new gymnasium at Immaculate Conception School.
Aldermen approved the ordinance on first reading with a 6-2 vote to vacate the 200-block of West Archer for the new construction which has seen community members speak both for and against the vacation.
WGIL previously reported that the plans for the school would see the new gym built along the north side of the existing road. Ideally, the school would build a connecting hallway from the current facility to the new building, hence the desire to vacate Archer Avenue.
City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher says that the ordinance includes language that should the project not go forward, the land reverts back to the city as a street.
“What they included some amended language that should the school not proceed with the project and not build the new gymnasium on the north side of Archer, that the street would revert back to right-of-way, to the city, as a street.”
There’s not a timetable for when the construction is to start, according to Steinbrecher, but he says the city will monitor the school’s fundraising.
“I would suspect that we will continue to monitor the school’s plans and if they’re successful we will know about that. And, we can proceed with the formal vacation of the street when they get ready to go to construction. If an extended period of time evolves then we’d have to re-evaluate it.”
With the ordinance on first reading, a 2/3 majority was needed to pass it.
