Janesville's Town Square opens Friday

After year's of work the City of Janesville is ready to open its Town Square on River Street.

The project is the first phase of the city's revitalization project.

The Town Square is a festival style street, meaning it is equipped to handle entertainment and larger crowds.

"When you come out here you see families with their children and people of all walks of life using this facility," said the Director of Public Works for Janesville, Paul Woodard.

The square is designed to draw people downtown. It includes a large green space, and water attraction. Woodard said in the future there will be a pedestrian bridge allowing people to walk from the square to the other side of the Rock River.

The city plans to host a grand opening Friday.

Next to the park, people will get their first look at a new mural sharing the city's history.

"I just like to take a little pride in the place you're from," said artist Jim Richter.

The mural lies in the Doty Mill Alley. It was part of a project put together by a team with Rock County's Leadership Development Academy.

"We have this new beautiful festival street, a new parking lot behind it, a new pedestrian bridge going in with the ARISE Project next year, the new Town Square and [the alley] actually leads to all of those," said Leadership Development Academy member, Jason Klingaman.

The mural includes icons of the city's past, such as a car from General Motors and a pen from the Parker Pen Company, but it also feature the bridge from the Rotary Botanical Gardens symbolizing the city moving toward its future.

"There's so much going forward. So much redevelopment and so much coming downtown now," said Klingaman.

Richter expects the paint to last on the mural for several decade.

You can see both the mural and the Town Square at the square's grand opening Friday from 4 to 7p.m. on River Street. The city said there will be music, food trucks and activities for kids.