A portion of Kansas Street in Frankfort has closed to vehicular traffic, allowing restaurants to expand outdoor dining and kicking off a summer season that will feature improvements, events and new businesses to the historic downtown district. “It’s a fun atmosphere,” said Karen Meyers with This and That Gifts and Accessories, 11 S. White St.
“We have so much going on in the summer.” Frankfort Mayor Keith Ogle said temporarily closing Kansas Street from Ash to Oak streets, first done during the COVID-19 pandemic, is back by popular demand. The closure creates a pedestrian friendly zone where visitors can dine al fresco, shop at the downtown’s unique boutiques and enjoy the summer season.
“It’s straight out of a Hallmark movie,” Ogle said. The village has worked on a myriad of improvements to its downtown district, Ogle said. Two new downtown parking lots with 80 additional spaces are expected to be completed by June 1.
The village secured $560,000 in grants from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for parking and lighting enhancements in the historic district, Ogle said. A new parking lot at 2 Smith St. is anticipated to open by June 1.
This lot will have 42 new spaces with another lot under construction nearby on White Street adding 38 new spaces. (Michelle Mullins/for Daily Southtown) The future parking lot at 2 Smith St. once contained an abandoned cabinet factory that was torn down, said Sarah Hodges, resident engineer with Robinson Engin.
