One month to go: End in sight for Dixon riverfront plaza construction

DIXON – If you squint your eyes just right, you can see a dream about to be realized.

Steel rods, beat-up wooden beams and clods of dirt still litter the ground at Heritage Crossing Riverfront Plaza. Soon, though, they will be replaced by flower beds, engraved paving stones and the plaza’s crowning touch: a life-size statue of Ronald Reagan.

Construction of the plaza, which started late last summer after decades of talk, should be complete within about a month, City Engineer Shawn Ortgiesen said.

He and Riverfront Commission Chairman Larry Reed led a tour of the site on Wednesday for Dixon and Lee County tourism officials.

“You got to start somewhere, and this is our start, right here between the two bridges,” Reed said. “We want you to be able to explain to people that we do have something that’s maybe a little unique.”

Bricks, laid by hand, have been fitted into the plaza’s walls. A weather vane tops the restroom pavilion, which needs only interior fixtures. The west end of the plaza, the area’s lowest spot, still requires concrete work.

Higher-than-normal river levels have slowed work there by about a month, Ortgiesen said.

Beyond that, though, it’s just a matter of some landscaping and some groundwork – laying the pavers, finishing sidewalks and the bike path, and fitting granite stones around the statue’s base.

The bronze statue will go up last, in the first week of August, Ortgiesen said. It will be covered for 2 weeks, though, until the plaza’s grand opening on Aug. 14.

That day, which will coincide with Reagan Trail Days, will be filled with activities, including fireworks.