The deal covers how excavations will be done and directs the city and the Illinois State Museum to curate the artifacts recovered. The State Journal-Register reports final approvals are needed before work begins on the remains of seven homes and artifacts from a mid-1800s immigrant neighborhood.
Project manager Jim Moll says excavation could restart before winter weather. Railroad project crews discovered the burnt remains in 2014.
The 1908 riot happened when a white mob was thwarted in an attempt to lynch two black jail inmates went on a rampage, destroying dozens of black-owned businesses and homes.
