Rockford interns are fixing sidewalks in record time, and they don't want to stop

Six summer interns are helping repair Rockford’s sidewalks this summer, and they’re more than a month ahead of schedule.

The crew was hired through a through a city program — now in its third year — that offers mentorship and on-the-job training to at-risk and underserved young adults. The initiative is a partnership between the city of Rockford and LT Construction, a concrete construction contractor owned by local pastor Albert “Tank” Weathers.

By July 23, the crew had completed restoration of the focus areas they were initially assigned — approximately 43,000 square feet of sidewalk.

On Monday, the City Council’s Planning and Development Committee approved an additional $150,000 to extend the initiative through the end of August, the program’s original end date. With the extra funding, the interns will be able to complete an estimated 12,000 additional square feet of sidewalk improvements along Barrington Place, Henrietta Avenue and First Street.

The full council will decide next Monday whether to approve the extension. The initiative, whose total costs will come out to $675,000 this year, is funded through the American Rescue Plan.

Interns work five days a week, putting in eight to 10 hours each day and earning $22 an hour. The program works to place its graduates in union apprenticeships.

Ken Mattson — the city’s Capital Improvements Plan operations manager, who helps oversee the initiative — said at least eight of the program’s alumni now work at local construction companies.

Weathers said the current crew of interns once laid down 325 linear feet of sidewalk in a single day, breaking the 300-foot record set by interns in the previous two years of the program.

“When no one knows how to even swing a hammer, they didn’t know how to use a tool, and to watch them progressively — from the start to where they’re at now — is impressive,” Weathers said.

Devontae Sims, who is interning with the program this summer, said he was proud to see how much his group had accomplished this year.

The secret, he said, was teamwork.

“We move as a unit," Sims said. "It’s just beautiful watching us work as a team.”

Did the crew click immediately?

“From the start,” he said. “We got chemistry, quick.”

Tilly Robinson is a summer reporting intern with the Gannett/USA Today Network at the Rockford Register Star. She can be reached via email at mrrobinson@gannett.com and on X @ tillyrobin .

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford interns are fixing sidewalks in record time, and they don't want to stop