August 07, 2025 

City Manager Pamela Reece

Last month, Mayor Koos named Adam Nielsen the Town of Normal Citizen of the Year. What fun it was to see the Adam's surprise! Read on to learn more.

This week, Council heard an update from Director of Engineering & Public Works Ryan Otto about the Pedestrian & Roadway Campus Safety Initiative. This joint effort with Illinois State is important to our community. A summary is below. Expect to hear more about this safety project in the coming weeks!

As students head back to school, we'll be closing one of our aquatic centers. The Parks & Recreation team recently had to change aquatic center operations. Karraker Aquatic Center will close Aug. 10. Anderson Aquatic center remains open until Sept. 1.

I hope to see you in Uptown Normal! As always, there's plenty to do. 

Above: Mayor Chris Koos (right) honors Citizen of the Year Adam Nielsen (left).

"Just as he used to be a champion for the Town of Normal, Adam is now a champion for people and families impacted by Alzheimer’s. I commend his work and am proud of his dedication.” 

-- Mayor Chris Koos

To learn more, read the Citizen of the Year news release.

On Aug. 4, the Normal Town Council heard an update on this project. Key takeaways from the engagement studies and data collection include:

Pedestrian crashes make up 4% of traffic crashes but 57% of serious injury crashes.

Source: Project Update: Pedestrian + Roadway Campus Safety Initiative, Aug. 4, 2025

The full project update is available on the Normal Forum project page. To learn more about actions taken at the Aug. 4 meeting, read the Council Action Reports. 

Unacceptable:

Acceptable:

Please do not abuse the Town of Normal Landscape Waste Drop-off Site at 1301 Warriner St., Normal.

It's open 24/7 for Normal residents, but it's not a dumping ground for things other than landscape waste.

Last issue, we shared reminders about key dates concerning aquatic centers. Due to emerging mechanical issues, the Parks & Recreation Team announced these changes to center operations:

August:

September:

Visit the Town of Normal website for past editions of Normal Now. 

Don't miss an email! In your inbox, tag the Normal Now emails as Primary (Google) or Focused (Outlook) to ensure you get them as soon as they are delivered. 

Thank you for being part of our community! We want to hear from you! Let us know how we're doing and what you'd like to see in future editions of Normal Now.