Published on July 1, 2026 10:09 am
Last Updated on July 1, 2026 10:11 am
(EFFINGHAM MAYOR MIKE SCHUTZBACH, JOINED BY CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, EFFINGHAM PARK BOARD MEMBERS AND THOSE INVOLVED IN THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION, SNIPPED THE RIBBON WEDNESDAY MORNING TO FORMALLY OPEN A WESTERLY EXTENSION OF SANTA MARIA AVENUE FROM 4TH STREET TO MAPLE STREET AT THE WORKMAN SPORTS AND WELLNESS COMPLEX)
A hot and steamy setting for this morning’s formal opening of a new portion of Santa Maria Avenue from Maple Street to Fourth Street and the pond at the Workman Sports and Wellness Complex.
The primary construction effort was on Santa Maria Avenue. City Director of Public Improvements Jeremy Heuerman said a half mile of new sanitary sewer, water main, storm sewer, curb and gutter, sidewalk, and a concrete street were built on Santa Maria. Additionally, Fourth Street was reconstructed from Santa Maria Avenue to Santa Fe Avenue, allowing full reconstruction of the intersection of Fourth Street and Santa Maria Avenue. Additionally, the project was used as an opportunity to add a 1.5-acre pond as an amenity for the people of Effingham. The Effingham Park District will take ownership of the pond and has plans to stock the pond for fishing. Lastly, the project added a parking lot south of the new pond and added to Harmony Playground parking lot.
This $5.3 million construction project was completed by Feutz Contractors, Inc. of Paris, Illinois. The engineering design and inspection for this project was performed by Milano & Grunloh of Effingham. Funding for the project was through Effingham’s first Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District, TIF-1. This TIF District expired in 2019, with the remaining funds used to construct this project.
