The village of Milan is looking for ways to draw in visitors and tourism dollars. Tuesday night staff got ideas from residents on different projects they'd like to see. A lot of it focuses on amenities and accessibility in reference to the Hennepin Canal.
The village is bordered on the North by the canal. Running along it is the recreation trail many use for biking and walking. There's a new 1.5 mile section stretching to the Rock Island/Milan Parkway that will be done by fall. But many say accessibility from the path to downtown Milan and other areas is lacking. Fixing that is one of many ways the village hopes to revive the area.
A new vision for the Village of Milan is starting with a hands on approach. A couple dozen residents turn out to a community meeting Tuesday night at the Milan Community Center. The divided into groups and started brainstorming.
The nearly 100 mile stretch of the Hennepin canal sees about a million users in a year. The area near Milan sees its fair share but a big goal is to bridge the gap. "There are certain access points that are already there. We can consider more. Those become planned elements that are connecting to the canal," said George Bellovics, a landscape architect with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The plan to not only connect to downtown Milan, residents also map out ideas for new paths that connect to neighboring cities like Moline, Rock island, even Andalusia.
As a cyclist, Milan resident Brad Ellis, wanted to offer suggestions from other towns he's visited. However, he thinks the first step is to focus more on bringing businesses that are considered attractions. "I'd love to have a brewery in Milan. I don't know if that will ever happen, but if you want people to bike you have to give them a reason to stop and stay and spend some money and spend some time," said Ellis.
That opens up discussion on revitalizing the downtown. From signage to parking areas with bike racks, several residents also like the idea of food and beverage or speciality shops. Village staff hope this planning for future projects will be a spring board into next attracting new businesses.
"It's vital for our downtown community to have that accessibility so we can draw those tourism people and dollars in," said Annette Ernst, Milan Economic Development Director.
From here the ideas will be turned into digital map layouts for village leaders to consider. Staff then plans to get with area non-profit groups and start the search for funding from the state and federal level.
