New Interstate 70 spur in East St. Louis (Photo courtesy of Illinois Department of Transportation)

Belleville to get first new hotel in 55 years

Construction on Belleville’s first new hotel in 55 years is slated to begin next spring.  Oak Tree Management Services last week announced plans to open a new $28 million hotel, restaurant and convention center complex, next to the new Hofbräuhaus St. Louis-Belleville beer hall, which is currently under construction on Illinois State Route 15 across from the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows.

Encompassing a 33-acre site, Oak Tree development will center around a six-story, 130-room hotel with an adjoining 40,000 square foot conference center.

On opening of the new Oak Tree hotel, an existing 70-room Hyatt Place hotel on the Shrine grounds will close and be re-purposed, according to a company statement.  Shrine officials say they have not yet determined what to do with the building.

Our Lady of the Snows will remain open and under Shrine management until the Hyatt Place complex opens, the developers said. The existing 70-room hotel will then close and be repurposed for another undetermined use.

The $12 million, 1,000-seat Hofbräuhaus restaurant and brewery initially was expected to open this year, but developers now expect construction to be completed in January. An opening date has not yet been announced.

The Hofbräuhaus St. Louis-Belleville is a franchise of Las Vegas-based Hofbräu America, which is majority owned by Hofbräuhaus in Munich.

Long-awaited East St. Louis riverfront project underway

Officials officially broke ground Nov. 3 on East St. Louis’ $8.1 million Front Street reconstruction project, to help spur economic development along the city’s Mississippi Riverfront.

Over the next two years, St. Clair County plans $6.39 million in riverfront road renovations entailing:

• Reconstruction of Front Street from Trendley Avenue in East St. Louis to the roadway’s dead-end termination in Fairmont City.
• Resurfacing of Trendley Avenue from Front Street to Main Street,
• Reconstruction of West Missouri Avenue from Front Street to B Street, and
• Reconstruction of B Street from Missouri Avenue to River Park Drive.

That will be capped off a new $1 million-plus roundabout at the entrance of the Casino Queen, under the second phase of the project.

Taking part in the groundbreaking were St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern, East St. Louis Mayor Emeka Jackson-Hicks, James Nations, chairman of the Southwestern Illinois Development Authority, and other representatives of St. Clair County government, the Illinois Department of Transportation, U.S. Commerce Department Economic Development Administration, and the Metro East Parks and Recreation District.

Baxmeyer Construction is the general contractor for the first phase of the project. Total projects costs include design and engineering.

Wood River Refinery settles pollution case

The owners and operators of the Wood River Refinery in Roxana will pay a $125,000 civil penalty and install a new wastewater control system to settle charges the plant discharged excessive pollutants into the Mississippi River.

Monthly reports, submitted by the oil refinery to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) from 2011 through 2016, show releases of wastewater contaminants, exceeding the facility’s permitted levels, including mercury, fecal coliform, ammonia and other byproducts. Courts records show the exceedances were documented in.  The settlement with Phillips 66, ConocoPhillips and WRB Refining was announced Oct. 31 by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

The refinery is jointly owned by Phillips 66 and the Canadian oil company Cenovus Energy through their WRB Refining partnership. The civil penalty will be paid to an IEPA trust fund. The refinery produces gasoline, asphalt, petroleum coke and other products from crude oil drawn from Canadian and domestic sources.

Chester police officer mourned

For the second time in a month, the St. Louis area is mourning the loss of a Metro-East Police Officer. Hundreds gathered at an Nov. 2 public memorial for Chester Police Officer James Brockmeyer. Brockmeyer was in pursuit of a vehicle Oct. 29 night when his vehicle crashed on Palestine Road, north of Chester.  

The driver he was pursuing, Jason M. Stoker, 34, of Chester, left the scene but was arrested in the St. Louis area Nov. 1.  Brockmeyer, 22, was a rookie patrolman who had joined the Chester Police Department just ten months ago.  The 2012 Chester High School graduate was also a volunteer firefighter.  He was buried Nov. 3 at a public graveside service in Chester following a private family funeral.

I-70 spur to East St. Louis opens

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) Nov. 4 opened a new connecting road from Interstate 70 to East St. Louis at Riverpark Drive — near the Casino Queen.  The new $25 million spur is designed to allow heavy truck traffic, which now commonly takes the Poplar Street Bridge in route to East St. Louis’ riverfront industrial area, to use the newer and less heavily travelled Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge to the north, according to Joseph G. Gasaway, IDOT supervising field engineer.

The roadway, built in four phases, was two-and-a-half years in construction, cost $25 million.  IDOT intends to eventually continue the connector road south into Sauget; although plans are still in development.

–Metro East Area News Briefs–