This coming spring will see Prospect Road closed through Peoria Heights’ downtown on two occasions, both for community events that draw a significant number of visitors.

Heights officials will barricade Prospect between Seiberling and Marietta on Wednesday, March 17, otherwise known as St. Patrick’s Day. Downtown’s main artery also will be off limits to vehicles between Glen and Seiberling on Saturday, May 22, the date of the Heights’ Fine Art Fair.

Traffic will be rerouted to Columbus, where the speed limit will be reduced. Residents in the neighborhoods affected will be notified in advance. Signage will redirect traffic. Additional police will be out and about.

The festivities were canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic but had proved popular in previous years.

Closing off Prospect entirely “is the safest way,” said Village Administrator Dustin Sutton. A partial closure during the Fine Art Fair in 2019 did produce some safety issues, he said, which Village officials would like to avoid this time around.

St. Patrick’s Day will be “a scaled-down” event this year due to ongoing COVID-19 mitigations, said Billy Blasek, co-owner of W.E. Sullivan’s Irish Pub, who is working closely with the Peoria County Health Department. Capacity will be limited
inside the bar, but also outside, where entrances will be limited and staff and extra security will be monitoring the crowd size with clickers, said Blasek.

“Once it gets to a certain point, we can’t let anyone else in,” he said. There will be plenty of tables and chairs and free roaming will be discouraged in an attempt to comply with physical distancing guidelines, he said.

“We do understand what kind of crowds these bring,” said Sutton, especially in a year where there is likely to be a lot of pent-up demand due to the pandemic. “Even though we’re all excited about the event, we don’t want it to get out of hand.”

Meanwhile, the Village will donate $5,000 to the Peoria Heights Arts Collaborative, which will go toward various Fine Art Fair basic expenses.