After more than a year planning to construct an event center in Riverside Park the costs continued to increase so the city council decided to take a new direction to keep costs down and revitalize the west side of town. The Rockford Mall owners, Welsh, contacted staff in the summer of 2013 and asked if the city was interested in purchasing the mall property.  This was an idea previously discussed in 2007, but the cost was too high at the time. After looking at the space available at the mall the city council determined it would be a good location for redeveloping of an event center, and city hall offices. The city ordered an appraisal and inspections  were completed of the roof, HVAC system, parking lot, etc. and an offer was made. The offers were countered a few times until both sides agreed upon a price. The city has scheduled two public hearings at 5:00 p.m. on February 20th to discuss the bond issues that will finance the project.

On January 14, 2014 the city council hired Dan Madsen as the new city administrator/special counsel. The current city administrator Nancy Carswell will be retiring on March 28th.  Dan will start working at the city early in February a few days a week until Carswell retires.  Dan comes highly recommended  as a city administrator and is also an attorney so he can provide legal counsel to the city.

The Rockford Fire Department Calendars have arrived.  The Volunteer Fire Fighters will be delivering to the Rockford fire area,