Keysor stands behind other chamber criticisms

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump | Jan. 19, 2012

While acknowledging he ultimately was wrong about who supplied the city with a list of businesses used to initiate Elgin’s business license, OCTAVE spokesman Chuck Keysor said the group continues to stand by other criticisms it has leveled about the issue.

 “… I still stand by the list of all the other issues I raised a few minutes ago,” he wrote, referring to an email he sent in which Keysor outlined an array of issues with the business license program, all of which have been aired publicly before the City Council and in emails to OCTAVE supporters and others following the group.

Illinois Supreme Court ruling renews hope for Riverside Drive Promenade

Published July 12, 2011

A court ruling Monday may free up funding for the Riverside Drive Promenade project. (Hitchcock Design Group)

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump
The first thing you might notice while walking along the old Riverside Drive parking deck that juts out over the eastern shore of the Fox River in downtown Elgin is the element of decay.

Weeds have grown upward from cracks in the pavement. A concrete barrier bars vehicles from most of the deck’s former southbound lane, because the deck’s underpinnings have weakened with time and may not support a vehicle’s weight.