We believe that linking and leveraging local and regional assets purposefully can ignite game-changing opportunities and also stir a shared interest and effort toward lifting the region. For this downtown vision to come alive, the community will require both public and private investment.

Private and public investment will be sought to develop projects that will foster Alton’s revitalization vision, including public infrastructure (parks, streets, parking, streetscape, pedestrian and bicycle connectivity), historic district certification, transit connectivity, workforce development, minority workforce training, business attraction/relocation, broadband public infrastructure.

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We believe the City of Alton, the region and all of downstate Illinois could greatly benefit by implementing an integrated public-private, collaborative actionable plan for community revitalization. The AltonWorks path forward will be realized through development strategies and planning efforts designed to inspire cooperation, public and private investment, local innovation and action throughout the region. AltonWorks is ready to stand with other capacity builders to reinvigorate Alton’s historic downtown and riverfront and serve as a catalytic force toward lifting the region.

As some communities are simply thinking about how to quell the population decline in small, rural cities, the community of Alton believes it can buck that trend. We believe that in today’s world, ‘talent’ is looking for a great place to live, and Alton can be that community. That’s why so many prominent local institutions are central to this effort, serving as capacity builders, conveners, consensus builders, and thought leaders, empowering individual entrepreneurs and advancing collective actions that reveal an instructive regional model of cooperation and measured impact.

Call Susan Ryan at 314-304-6800.
Email us at info@altonworks.us

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Over the last several years, while the world was coping with the consequences of the pandemic, AltonWorks was busy making plans to help transform downtown Alton into a place where people who want to work, live, and play can belong. To activate a plan as large as the transformation of downtown Alton, it takes the cooperation of many government agencies locally, regionally, and nationally.  AltonWorks has developed a federal, state, and local legislative advocacy agenda that focuses on the advancement of AltonWorks' projects, the Wedge Innovation Center, and outdoor recreation in Illinois.

AltonWorks was founded on the principles of livability, environmental stewardship, social justice, and inclusivity and believes in rebuilding communities for optimum social impact. As an intermediary organization, AltonWorks offers thought leadership, planning, convening, and connecting, adding capacity to the Region’s ability to attract funding, expand social impact, catalyze economic growth, and anchor downstate recovery.

This document outlines the requests AltonWorks has made on the local, state, and national level for financial support to fund the future growth and health of downtown Alton. These funds will be utilized to provide opportunities for small businesses, entrepreneurs, educators, retirees, families, visitors, residents who want upward mobility and job opportunities.