NEWS

AltonWorks announced that it is bringing Danish Master Chef and Food is Love host Lasse Sorensen to Alton to help foster the city as a regional culinary destination.

 What makes a city a culinary destination? Ethnic food choices. Affordability. Outdoor dining options. Community support. Strategic planning. A farm to table focus. Walkability. Easy access. An environment where food enthusiastically connects friends, families and even strangers. 

“Creating a vibrant, accessible food community and culinary destination in downtown Alton is a part of AltonWorks’ long-term strategy to revitalize this great city,” said Alton resident and AltonWorks CEO John Simmons. “To help foster this vision, Master Chef Lasse Sorensen will relocate his home and his 6x Emmy nominated ‘Food is Love’ program to Alton.” The Food is Love headquarters will be located at 223 Market in downtown Alton in an AltonWorks property.

Alton is fortunate to have many fantastic restaurants, which will provide an incredible base off of which to grow. Much of AltonWorks’ focus will be on supporting current restauranters, attracting new restaurants, working with Lasse to help the company plan restaurants housed in AltonWorks’ buildings (like the Wedge Innovation Center) and drawing attention to Alton as a food destination through the Food is Love program.

On November 28, 2023, the Alton Riverfront Commission voted to recommend the City of Alton join with others to conduct a study on the viability of creating a Great Rivers National Park, an idea proposed by AltonWorks at the meeting.

 It’s clear that Americans love their national parks. According to the National Park Service, about 312 million people visited national parks in 2022, a 5% increase from 2021. National parks bring in billions of dollars of economic activity to regions across the country for small and large cities alike.

 AltonWorks unveiled a long-term vision to create the Great Rivers National Park to help transform Alton and highlight the region’s crown jewel: The Mississippi River. This proposal is aligned with the founding principles of AltonWorks, which include livability, environmental stewardship, social justice, and inclusivity in rebuilding communities for optimum social impact.

Realizing this vision will take the efforts of numerous city, state, and federal government organizations. Bringing these lands together under the National Park Service would provide consistent trails and amenities and leverage park marketing, maintenance and funding for a 135,000-acre, 144-mile designated recreation park.

The City of Alton received a grant from East West Gateway to commission a The Great Streets design effort which was completed in June 2020. The plan reimagined Broadway as a welcoming and vibrant streetscape that serves as a modern main street for a revitalized Alton. $500,000 in funding for engineering has been obtained by Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth and will be available summer 2023. AltonWorks and the City of Alton are now seeking phased funding for implementation of the Great Streets plan and hopes to establish an impactful public-private partnership, resulting in a complete transformation of downtown Alton, paving the way for attracting new businesses, jobs, and residents and stopping the population decline in the region. Recent federal and state infrastructure bills provide an unprecedented opportunity to improve our infrastructure. AltonWorks fully supports the implementation of these infrastructure programs and advocates continued expansion of the funding mechanisms to expand these needed infrastructure improvements.

In fall of 2023, AltonWorks will begin construction on a community park next to Flock. Research indicates that city parks and open spaces improve our physical and psychological health, strengthen our communities, and make our cities and neighborhoods more attractive places to live and work, which is why this space has been chosen as a top development opportunity in the revitalization of downtown Alton.

AltonWorks begins construction on the Wedge Innovation Center (the Wedge) today, December 7, 2022. Construction crews will focus phase one of their work inside the Elfgen building with the remediation of mold and additional asbestos. Demolition will begin once remediation efforts are complete. BSI Constructor’s Inc. of St. Louis is the construction company hired to renovate the Wedge, and Crossroads is BSI’s demolition contractor.

“This is a great day for Alton,” said AltonWorks CEO John Simmons. “Since the onset of the pandemic, we have been working behind the scenes to make events like today happen. Projects are moving forward in a thoughtful and intentional way, even if they are not always evident to the community at large.” Read the press release here.

Innovation. It drives everything we do these days, from medical cures and environmental protections to culture and the arts. Today, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker joined AltonWorks CEO John Simmons and President Jayne Simmons to announce the establishment of the Wedge Innovation Center in downtown Alton.

The Wedge Innovation Center and Elfgen Building, formerly known as the Wedge Bank Building will include retail and café on the first floor facing Broadway in the Elfgen The Wedge and Elfgen buildings will be connected in the renovation. On the second and third floor of the Elfgen, office space will be constructed for use by start-up and small, growing companies that could benefit from a collaborative, coworking spaces. Once these companies grow in size, they have the option of moving to larger spaces on the fourth floor, which will feature a coworking lounge and access to a roof deck terrace lounge. The Wedge Innovation Center will house its management office in the Elfgen Building.

The offices will include technology support, working spaces, private cubicles, conference rooms, and lounges. Tenants will share resources for a more economical leasing option. Construction began in the fall of 2022 and is expected to be completed in early 2024.

The future plans for the Jacoby Arts Center are to retain the gallery and classrooms on the first floor. The second and third floors will be developed into offices or loft space. Construction on this project will begin in fall of 2023.

He was an architect, former Mayor, and Chief of the volunteer fire department. Now, Lucas Pfeiffenberger, born in 1834 to German immigrants, has a stretch of buildings from 601–613 East Broadway that he designed now called Lucas Row, named after him to honor his Alton legacy.  Read the press release here.

Lucas Row sits on one of the most distinct streets in downtown Alton. Lucas Row will provide 12 new apartments with modern amenities and great views of the Mississippi. Construction is expected to be completed sometime in early 2024.

Although the Grand Theatre was a top priority at the time it was acquired, the pandemic changed real estate priorities for AltonWorks. The current work on the theatre includes construction that will help stabilize this historic site and ensure it is ready for future construction.