By Kayla Johnson
PEORIA, Ill. (25 News) – Peoria County officially opened the newly renovated Bicentennial Park Friday at the courthouse plaza, and the ribbon cutting doubled as a lunchtime First Fridays Amplified celebration.
The pop-up event drew people downtown for music, art and food. The county showed off upgrades throughout the plaza, including new stone pavers, updated lighting, landscaping and seating, plus a new water feature featuring bronze bison statues.
Peoria County held a ribbon-cutting at lunchtime on Friday, unveiling the new Bicentennial Park at the Courthouse Plaza. (25 News)
“Last year, we broke ground on construction to renovate the plaza outside the courthouse. We have a new water feature, featuring bronze bison, permeable pavers. There’s been a lot of new stonework going on, a lot of new landscaping with trees and benches, really to make it a gathering place for downtown,” said Gretchen Pearsall, director of strategic communications for Peoria County.
Bison Burt was one of the many Bicentennial Bison on display as Peoria County unveiled the renovations at the Courthouse Plaza on Friday. (25 News)
Entertainment included live music from Goodnight Gracie, live painting, handcrafted jewelry, watercolor artwork and balloon art for families.
Food trucks were on site, and attendees also had a chance to grab a free ice cream scoop from The Daily Scoop. Food options included Tony’s on Wheels and Chuy BloNos Tacos.
ArtsPartners of Central Illinois hosted the inaugural First Fridays Amplified daytime event at the courthouse, turning the plaza into a midday destination for local creativity.
“The first Friday of every month, we have venues that open up across the city of Peoria and Greater Peoria that welcome you in to see the work of our local creatives and it is completely free. What’s exciting is that we were able to secure grants from Chews Greater and the Community Foundation of Central Illinois to bring live music to these venues,” said Mae Gilliland Wright, ArtsPartners’ executive director.
Organizers said the updated plaza is open to the public, and they expect more community events to follow.
