The Peoria Heights Village Board unanimously approved developer Kim Blickenstaff’s plans to revive Al Fresco Park on Tuesday.
The board will lease the former amusement park land along Galena Road to Blickenstaff at a rate of 1,000 dollars a year for 20 years. Blickenstaff hopes to develop the 10-acre property into a park, with two spring-fed lakes for fishing and swimming, and wildlife habitats for otters, fish and bird species native to Central Illinois.
Blickenstaff is a California medical supplies mogul who’s taken on several large redevelopment projects since returning home to Peoria, including the old Pabst Brewery in the Heights and the Scottish Rite Cathedral downtown.
The plan must comply with rules from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
