The city of Urbana held a groundbreaking ceremony at Boneyard Creek, a stormwater-catching waterway that runs through Champaign-Urbana, on Wednesday.

“This creek has been industrialized. It looks like a drainage ditch or something, but it’s really a natural creek,” Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing said to city officials, contractors and business owners present at the ceremony on Griggs and Race streets. “And when we get done with this, you’re going to be very happy.”

The groundbreaking marked the beginning of the city’s $7.9 million three-part improvements project. The plan includes beautification of a segment of Boneyard Creek between Griggs Street and Broadway Avenue and improvements to the street and sidewalk areas on Race Street and Broadway Avenue.

“Don’t you think that Urbana can do better than barbed wire?” Prussing said, referring to the current fence that surrounds portions of the creek.

Some of the beautifications include creating a gathering place and plaza on the east and west sides of Race Street, increasing greenery, applying decorative tiling to walls, imprinting nature-related images into stones along the creek and adding site lighting improvements. These improvements make up the bulk of the budget at $5.4 million, including the replacement of the bridge on Race Street.

This project comes after Urbana officials identified four other segments of the creek that were in need of work, though they had been planning improvements since late 2006, according to a December 2011 memo.

“It’s probably the grandest of all five of the segments,” said Brad Bennett, senior civil engineer. “It has the most green space; it probably has the most impressive features.”

Many members of the business community with locations in the vicinity of the project have been complimentary of the city’s initiative.

“We’re excited for it — it’s been trying to happen for many years,” said Rick Orr, artistic director of the Station Theater, 223 N. Broadway Ave. “It’ll be a plus for many vendors around here.”

Allen Strong, owner of Silvercreek Restaurant, 402 N. Race St., and Courier Café, 111 N. Race St., has taken part in city planning initiatives in the past and said he feels positive about the project, which he said has a “winning concept.”

Community members also touched on the citywide impact of the project.

“I think it’s going to be a nice project (with) … nice green space (and) walking connections between areas of downtown,” said Don Owen, assistant superintendent of Urbana School District 116.

Ilya can be reached at [email protected].