The Street That Just Hosted Scarecrow Weekend Is Being Redrawn. Here's What's Actually on the Table

Scarecrow Weekend ends today. The city's road-closure plan keeps Riverside Avenue, Cedar Street, 5th Avenue and 4th Street blocked through Monday, Oct. 12. Eight days after the barricades come down, the City of St. Charles will hold a public meeting about what Riverside Avenue should become. A few hundred feet north, the former police station site has spent 2026 moving toward a decision that took seven years to reach.

Together, the two projects point the same way. Downtown's east bank is being planned as public space for gathering, and it is no longer treated as a parcel to sell or a street to drive through. This year residents picked a park over housing for the riverfront lot. The street beside it is being studied for designs that can flex around events. Here is what has actually been decided, what is still open, and where the next decisions get made.

Seven years, four rejected proposals, one clear answer

The police department left its building on the east riverfront, north of the Municipal Building, in 2019. In 2021 the city asked developers for concepts and got four proposals. City Council rejected all four and hired Solomon Cordwell Buenz to study the site's constraints instead. That feasibility study covered floodplain mitigation, environmental and geotechnical conditions, utilities, demolition costs, traffic and parking. It produced a range of scenarios but deliberately recommended none of them. Staff presented it to committee on Oct. 13, 2025.

The site has an address, 10 State Ave., and the parking lot north of the Municipal Center sits next to it. It also sits along the river's walking path near Pottawatomie Park, which is why the choice matters to anyone who uses that stretch of the Fox.

What more than 1,700 voices actually picked

The city hired the firm All Together and ran two rounds of public input in early 2026. The first round, an open house on Feb. 19 with an online survey, drew 738 survey responses. The second round, a workshop on April 8, focused on the open space concept that had come out ahead. It drew 850 survey responses, and the city's April 2026 report counts more than 1,700 voices across both phases.

The first-round rankings had a clear winner. In the March 2026 summary, 68% of respondents were interested in programmed open space, which earned a weighted score of 5.89 out of 7. Entertainment and food-and-beverage uses came second at 50% and 5.43. Multifamily housing, townhomes and hotels ranked near the bottom. The Kane County Chronicle's April 1 report described strong support for public use and substantial opposition to residential and hotel development. The engagement materials also noted that residents did not want a new hotel on the site competing with Hotel Baker.

In the second round, residents spent pretend money in a "Fund Your Vision" exercise. The top results:

1. Open green space and native landscape, 116 votes
2. A bandshell, 86 votes
3. Public restrooms, 69 votes
4. A plaza or market area, 51 votes
5. Small shops, 47 votes
6. Seating and relaxation areas, 45 votes

The bandshell's second-place finish matters most. A lawn with a stage is a place built for events, and that links this lot to the street project next door. The full report describes the preferred direction as active public open space with river access and community programming, kept under public control and with parking addressed. Opinion stayed split on whether to reuse the existing building.

From survey results to a Council position

The results went to the Committee of the Whole on June 1. The committee took no formal vote and sent staff back to work out more detailed concepts, possible partnerships and funding options.

The formal step came on July 20, 2026. City Council approved a non-binding Statement of Interest that named programmed open space the highest and best use of the site. It also stated the city's interest in partnering with the St. Charles Park District and directed staff to prepare three preliminary site plans, each with a programming outline and a construction cost estimate. The Park District answered with a letter saying it intends to work with the city on the park parts of the plan.

At an Aug. 31 Committee of the Whole meeting, staff gave an informational update with no vote. Citizen Portal's account of the meeting reported that staff flagged a 1,200-foot river wall needing replacement, estimated at $3 million to $5 million. Staff also walked through the tradeoffs of reusing versus demolishing the old building and listed amenity ideas: a bandshell, a skating ribbon, boardwalk shops and an open-air market. Citizen Portal reported that the Park District partnership and the timing of state OSLAD grants came up as important next steps.

The river wall is the least glamorous item on that list, and it may set the pace for everything else. A bandshell can't go on a riverbank that first needs millions of dollars of structural work.

Riverside Avenue, the street next door

The Riverside Avenue for All project is a Complete Streets study of the corridor along the east bank. The city calls the corridor a destination for local businesses, restaurants and cultural attractions, and also a connection for people walking, biking and driving.

The study's stated goals are a more walkable, pedestrian-oriented street that keeps vehicle access and the existing parking supply. The city says it will consider flexible street design that supports community events, along with permeable pavement, bioswales and more green infrastructure.

The "community events" phrase matters this week. During Scarecrow Weekend, Riverside Avenue carried part of the festival. The St. Charles Business Alliance put Pumpkin Butcher carving in the Riverside Activity Zone for the 41st edition. Today the street closes with barricades and detours. The study asks whether a redesigned street could make that shift more easily.

The project page describes these as options to explore. It names a preferred concept being refined from October through December, with final recommendations to come out of community input.

The businesses on the corridor give the study real stakes. The city's December 2025 downtown occupancy report listed Flagship on the Fox at 100 S. Riverside Ave. and Pollyanna Brewing Co. at 106 S. Riverside Ave. It also listed The House Pub at 16 S. Riverside Ave. and Warehouse Confectionary at 16 N. Riverside Ave. Those addresses reflect that December snapshot. North of Main Street, Pottawatomie Park at 8 North Avenue runs along the river's east edge, with the Jack Kerr Memorial Riverwalk.

Where each piece stands as of Oct. 11, 2026

The public City Council and Committee of the Whole agendas for September 2026 included no named item on the police site. The July and August actions are the latest on record. The city's calendar lists a special City Council meeting on Oct. 12 and Council plus Committee of the Whole meetings on Oct. 19. Those agendas are where the three concept plans will appear once they're ready.

The Oct. 20 meeting, and how to be heard if you can't go

The Riverside Avenue for All public meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 20, from 4 to 6 p.m. at City Hall, 2 E. Main St. It falls in the phase the city calls "Determine and Refine Preferred Concept." That makes it the point where comments can still change the design before the December Council presentation. If you can't attend, the project page lists Chris Gottlieb, Public Works Manager for Engineering, as the contact for comments and updates, at [email protected] or (630) 377-4405. Questions about the former police site go to Derek Conley, Economic Development Director, at [email protected].

Both projects let you subscribe for updates on the city's site. That's the most reliable way to see the three concept plans for the riverfront lot when they're released.

Downtown St. Charles is the backdrop for a lot of our clients' daily lives, and we follow the riverfront closely for the same reason. The Kimberly Zahand Team keeps track of how projects like the east bank plan change the way downtown works, and we're always happy to talk through what's on the table. Let's Work Together.