Lockport, an Illinois canal town, is justifiably proud of its history. But it was Lockport’s proactive efforts to build a future for its 26,000 residents that impressed Strongest Town voters. Lockport’s 2021 victory came during the height of the pandemic, and it rallied impressively to ensure its merchants could keep operating and citizens could continue to enjoy the city’s amenities and services. From augmenting its historic housing stock to increasing mobility, here’s how Lockport leaders told us they were approaching their challenges.
With over 75% of Lockport’s population living within 1.5 miles of the 4,000-student high school and all historic core residents within one mile of the central city grade schools, Lockport made major commitments to pedestrian and cycling safety. An intensive downtown streetscape project and neighborhood street reconstructions connected decades-long missing sidewalk links and resolved significant ADA barriers. Lockport sits along the 82-mile-long Illinois & Michigan Canal trail, and developed a Bicycle Master Plan to better link the city’s northern and eastern edges with the downtown core and along State Street (aka Main Street).
Lockport has a wide range of housing stock serving a variety of demographics, and the city has been intentional in identifying additional diversification opportunities where possible. In core downtown areas, single-family homes are able to house two units by right. Integrated into the fabric of downtown are multi-family structures next to single-family homes, all walkable to key downtown amenities. Lockport has focused on amending its zoning code to provide flexibility in residential development patterns, including action on lot sizes and allowing more residences in commercial zones. The Council also slowed the number of large-scale, community-edge annexations being pursued to limit the extension of utilities and roads into undeveloped areas.
Once one of the most bustling cargo landings in the state, the Illinois and Michigan (I & M) canal in Lockport is now used for festivals and events, weddings, concerts, and even historical-themed carriage rides during the annual Canal Days festival. New activities have been added to attract interest, including a Summer Art Series, a Steampunk Festival (the Great Midwestern Ballyhoo), the Monday night Cruise Nights and Concert, and a Great Midwestern Film Festival in the recently restored Roxy Theatre. After the inaugural Ballyhoo, David Mede told the mayor that the success of such events is what led him and his partners to invest millions of dollars to convert an old three-story building that had burned out, leaving only the four walls standing, into a restaurant and event center. A few years later, Mede is still running the successful restaurant that, together with the investment of the Gallas’ and the nationally recognized Tallgrass restaurant, began another renaissance of downtown.