Featured Stories

Urbana Free Library Foundation Seeks Donations to Replace Porch Floors

Submitted by Visitor (not verified) on December 11, 2017 - 9:00am

The Urbana Free Library Porch A century after The Urbana Free Library was built, the building’s iconic front porch along Race Street remains closed due to concerns it could collapse.

Now The Urbana Free Library Foundation, as part of its annual fund drive, is asking Library supporters to contribute toward replacement of the north and south porch floors. This will be an expensive job, which the Library wants to do right to preserve the porch well into the future. Initial estimates place the potential cost at $100,000.

The Library has hired a structural engineer, who determined that the porch floors need complete replacement, said Celeste Choate, the Library’s Executive Director. “The rebar inside the concrete is falling apart due to the freeze-and-thaw cycle,” said Choate. “It’s 100 years old.”

Community Feedback on Corner Lot

Submitted by Visitor (not verified) on December 11, 2017 - 8:56am

The Urbana Free Library welcomes your ideas for the vacant lot at 202 West Green Street, at the northwest corner of Green Street and Race Street.

Thanks to the generosity of our community, The Urbana Free Library Foundation purchased 202 West Green Street for the Library on June 30, 2017. The Library would love to collect your ideas for the lot and share them with the community. When you submit your ideas using the survey, we will post them on the Library's website so everyone can see them.

2018 Champaign Countywide Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration

Submitted by Visitor (not verified) on December 4, 2017 - 2:42pm

Date:

January 12, 2018 - 4:00pm

The cities of Champaign and Urbana along with Champaign County, Parkland College, and the University of Illinois invite the public to join them in 2018 Champaign Countywide Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Friday, January 12, 2018 at Vineyard Church, located at 1500 North Lincoln Avenue in Urbana.

The event organizers gather annually as a community to remember and honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The theme of this free 17th annual event is Fifty years past, fifty years forward…our future dreamers.

According to the MLK Planning Committee, “Dr. King believed in the power of the word DREAM. He expressed a vision of a better world – a vision that was compelling enough to withstand challenges, discouragements, and obstacles.”

The 2018 event will honor outstanding youth from Champaign County including Champaign, Urbana, and Rantoul middle and high school students. Award categories include the following:

City of Urbana Parking Deck Transitions to MobileMeter

Submitted by Visitor (not verified) on November 30, 2017 - 4:50pm

The City of Urbana parking deck located at 111 West Main Street in downtown Urbana will transition from a staffed parking deck to parking meters and MobileMeter beginning on Monday, December 4, 2017. MobileMeter is an app that gives drivers a credit card option directly from their smart phone or tablet. Users can also keep track of available time, receive reminder notifications before the end of their parking session, and extend parking time remotely. MobileMeter was first launched in the area in 2015 in the City of Champaign and then in Urbana in February 2016.

“The quick adoption of the MobileMeter app has exceeded expectations,” according to Urbana’s Public Facilities Manager Vince Gustafson. “Currently over fifty percent of all parking meters fees are being paid by customers using the new technology.”

Highland Green Opens in Urbana

Submitted by Visitor (not verified) on November 30, 2017 - 4:12pm

Highland Green, located at 401 and 403 East Kerr Avenue, will host a grand opening celebration on Monday, December 11th at 12 p.m. A project of Brinshore Development, LLC, of Northbrook, Illinois, in partnership with the Homestead Corporation of Champaign-Urbana and the Housing Authority of Champaign County, Highland Green consists of 33 newly constructed sustainable and affordable residential rental units. The development includes a mix of single-family and duplex units built on land donated by the City of Urbana. Nine of the units are set aside for income-qualifying veterans and their families.

Although work on Highland Green began in November 2016, the project has been many years in the making, starting with the purchase of the 3.1-acre site on Kerr Avenue during 2003-2004. Developing the site was part of the 2005 Mayor and City Council Goals and the 2008 Master Plan Report. In 2011, the City issued a Request for Proposals in search of a developer for the site and ultimately selected the submission from Brinshore Development, LLC and their partners.

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