The Illinois Realtors is a state-wide association with its headquarters located along the Jackson Street corridor that connects the Abraham Lincoln Home National Historic Site to the Illinois State Capitol building. As the city made plans to improve pedestrian access between the two popular tourist attractions, the Illinois Realtors Association was approached about including the only privately-owned section of the corridor in the urban redevelopment plans.

The result is the Bicentennial Plaza, a signature outdoor entertainment plaza for hosting festivals and events that was completed in conjunction with the state of Illinois’ 200th birthday in 2018. The marque element of the plaza is 16- to 20-foot-tall custom fabricated steel towers outfitted with customizable, programmable overhead light strings. Interpretive panels highlight historically-significant people, places and events from Lincoln’s time in Springfield. To tie the plaza in aesthetically with the other streetscape improvements made along the corridor, similar materials, such as permeable pavers, were specified.

Crawford, Murphy & Tilly (CMT) served as the engineering consultant for the plaza, calling upon our electrical, architectural, structural and stormwater experts to design this project while coordinating the many project elements in with the rest of the Jackson Street Corridor improvements. Their ability to take the visionary concept of this revitalization and transform it into affordable and constructible solutions was pivotal in bringing the project to life, and attracting more visitors and residents to Springfield’s historic downtown area.

In conjunction with the Bicentennial Plaza project, CMT provided engineering for the Jackson Street Corridor and Streetscape as well as the Illinois Executive Mansion Updates that were adjacent to this project and completed in correlation with the state’s Bicentennial Celebration.