Ellsworth Village President Becky Beissel

There’s a lot happening in Ellsworth right now, so let’s jump right in.

First up: Kwik Trip!

Last week, we celebrated the grand opening of Ellsworth’s new Kwik Trip with a ribbon cutting, and what a turnout! Kwik Trip leadership shared that it was one of the largest community turnouts they’ve had for an opening in quite some time. It was great to see so many people come out to welcome the Kwik Trip team to Ellsworth and celebrate what represents a significant private investment, new jobs, and expanded access to products and services right here in our community.

Next up: construction.

Knock on wood, the East End reconstruction project continues to move right along. While the dry weather hasn’t been especially kind to lawns and gardens, it has been pretty good for construction, and the project is currently even a little ahead of schedule.

When finished, the most visible changes will be new streets, sidewalks, lighting, landscaping, and amenities, but some of the most important work is underground, with significant upgrades to aging water, sanitary sewer, and stormwater infrastructure.

We also tackled another long-overdue need this summer with the replacement of nearly 7,500 square feet of deteriorated sidewalks in our “uptown” area. The difference is hard to miss, and it’s been great to see such a positive response to an improvement that was needed for a long time.

There’s plenty happening with housing, too.

Gerrard Corporation is proposing 36 new housing units, including two 12-unit, single-level townhome buildings and six twin homes just east of the 54-unit apartment complex they constructed in 2025.

Hines Greens, proposed by C&J Builders near Highway 65 and West Crosstown Road, is also moving through the process. Its preliminary plat includes 27 residential lots, with 17 single-family and 10 twin-home lots, along with new streets and Village utilities.

And the proposed Pinnacle development off South Maple and Dale Street continues to work through the Village process as well. The proposal includes 59 housing units, with 31 single-family lots and 14 twin-home lots. These projects are all at different stages, but it’s encouraging to see continued interest in adding a variety of housing options in Ellsworth.

We’re investing in what we already have, too.

In August, we awarded the first grants through the Village’s new Façade Improvement Program. The Village committed $10,000, with another $2,500 contributed by the Ellsworth Chamber of Commerce.

That $12,500 is helping support nearly $61,000 in planned improvements at Amma’s Pies, Trimbelle River Trading, and Just Ka’s Cocktails & Cuisine. It’s a great example of how a relatively small investment can help leverage much larger private investments in our business districts.

And finally: East End Park.

Work continues on the East End Park Master Plan. This spring, we asked the community to weigh in on preliminary concepts through a public survey, and the Parks, Recreation, and Development Committee met in August to dig into that feedback.

The survey is an important part of the process, but it is one piece of a much larger puzzle. The committee is also considering previous Village plans and community input, guidance from planning and parks professionals, costs and maintenance, accessibility, funding opportunities, and long-term community needs as we work toward a master plan that will guide future decisions for the park.

Next up at Village Hall: budget season.

Staff has already been working behind the scenes to prepare for the 2027 budget, and this fall that work moves into discussions with committees and the Village Board as we look at revenues, expenses, capital needs, staffing, projects, and priorities for the coming year before the final budget is adopted later this year.

So, while summer construction season may be winding down, things certainly aren’t slowing down at Village Hall. On to budget season!