A contract has been awarded for the final work needed to turn part of the Illinois and Michigan Canal in Ottawa into a water recreation area. The City Council this week approved a $354,300 bid from Superior Excavating to run the water line from the Fox River to the half-mile reworked stretch of canal. Work to make the canal hold water again started two years ago. Then-mayor Bob Eschbach hoped to have it done that year, but his timetable turned out to be too ambitious with contractors not being ready to take on all the work so soon.
The Illinois and Michigan Canal in Ottawa awaits a water supply to finish the project started in 2018.