The City of Clinton received a $2.7-million check Friday. The money is from a TIGER grant the city was recently awarded from the federal government. Clinton was chosen from a highly competitive field of other cities trying to get funds. The grant will be used for a major construction project on Camanche Avenue.
Construction on Camanche Avenue is going on from South 14th Street to South 4th Avenue. The project is also known as the Liberty Square Project and will last 2-years. The idea is by building a brand new entrance to Clinton, it will help revitalize the southern part of the city. However, businesses along Camanche Avenue have mixed feelings about the project.
"We just opened up a couple months ago, we opened up at the end of March," says Ben Damhoff of Ben's Bicycles.
Since construction started, new and old businesses along Camanche Avenue have experienced some bumps in the road.
"It hurts us, but we're just looking forward to the future," adds Damhoff.
For newer specialty businesses, like Ben's Bicycles, construction hasn't had too much of an impact. However, bars and small dealerships have seen a decline in business. They say traffic has kept people from stopping in and there's little that can be done to help.
"The businesses that are left, the majority of them are going to have to adapt to it," says Clinton Mayor Mark Vulich.
The project is much bigger than rebuilding streets. The plan is to change the entire the area. Buildings bought out by I-DOT are being torn down and others are being fixed up.
"This was a very blighted area of town," says Vulich, "It was very industrial with old car shops and abandoned buildings."
The city would like mixed commercial and industrial businesses to be built along Camanche Avenue, but there would be restrictions.
"We've got very rigid requirements for signage and how tall the structures can be. We want to make it more of a community to walk around," says Vulich.
Making the area one of the nicest parts of Clinton is something business owners are looking forward to
Damhoff says, "It's going to be nice when it's done, they're building a bike path."
