East Peoria Downtown 2010

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A NEW DOWNTOWN THAT WILL PROMOTE URBANISM.

In this day and age one doesn't find too many well-established cities that decide to just go out and build a whole new downtown.

Unless, of course, it doesn't already have one.

"We're a community without a downtown proper. It's only fitting that we have one," said Dave Mingus, mayor of East Peoria. "That's why we're doing this."

He was referring to the Downtown 2010 project that will bring to an 86-acre plot of land – formerly home to Caterpillar Inc. manufacturing plants – a mixed use of government, commercial, retail and even residential space not unlike what used to be in most downtowns before urban flight and a preference for cornfield malls took hold.

New urbanism is the trend now and East Peoria plans to make the most of it, Mingus said. "We hope someday this will be a model for new urbanism. It's part of the vision we've had for many years; a vision that can only materialize when you have the funding to at least get it started. We do, and things are happening," he said.

The funding he mentioned is $26 million from the Illinois Department of Transportation to build roads and other infrastructure to the site, which was basically a blank canvas for East Peoria when Caterpillar demolished the old factories in 1997 and practically gave the land to the city with the understanding it would be reused for the good of the community.

A 2001 study on the reuse of the property led to the Downtown 2010 project.

It still resembles that blank canvas when viewed from a distance, but roads in and out are slowly starting to take shape and bridges over railroad tracks and a creek connecting the site to Camp Street are nearing completion. By the end of the year much of the roadwork is expected to be completed and by 2013, said Mingus, much construction activity will be ongoing. "Some projects may break ground yet this year," he said. "A lot was waiting for the infrastructure because that's what attracts business."

A new Holiday Inn and a Morton Community Bank building are committed to the site and a new Target Supercenter could be among the first retail tenants.

Eventually a new City Hall – usually a focal point to any downtown – will be built and it would connect to a new library and the Caterpillar Heritage Museum.

Mingus said the resemblance to a mall or outdoor lifestyle center isn't an accident. "We want it to be pedestrian friendly," he said. "We can visualize places for people to gather, with fountains and a farmer's market. There will be millions and millions of dollars worth of development on that site and we want it to be good for the community as a whole, including new jobs and for the economy."

It also will be as green as possible. Much material in the new project will be recycled from the now-demolished factories, said City Administrator Tom Brimberry. The city hopes the new downtown can be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified, he said, with zoning overlays that will require such.

The city, he added, was fortunate in that there was much in the way of environmental challenges on the property despite the fact that the immediate past use was for heavy equipment manufacturing. There are a couple spots where mitigation wasn't possible and they will not be used for buildings.

The site plan that was chosen for Downtown 2010 came from Cullinan Properties Ltd., which came in with experience in putting together large multi-use projects. Cullinan Properties developed The Shoppes at Grand Prairie and the surrounding commercial and retail sites there.

Mingus and Brimberry said Cullinan Properties were key to getting another big development to East Peoria – the new Bass Pro Shops center on the East Peoria riverfront that is scheduled to open this month. It will be the only Bass Pro store between Chicago and St. Louis and is expected to generate millions in revenues for the local economy.

"Bass Pro was a major blessing. I mean, very few communities get them to even visit a site, so that alone was a significant hurdle. Cullinan Properties was key to getting them here, then (city attorney) Dennis Triggs and his staff put together the deal," Mingus said.

Even more key, Brimberry said, was the day Bass Pro founder Johnny Morris came to East Peoria to meet with Mingus and other officials and to look at the site. "Johnny Morris caught the vision the mayor was talking about and it came together from there," he said.

"Everybody worked together to make them feel welcome. That's just the way we do things with economic development in East Peoria. We want to be as welcoming as we can," Mingus said.

East Peoria has scored big projects in recent memory and has even seemed to best the "big dog" to the west, Peoria, on some of those projects. The Par-A-Dice Casino was among the first, and the Embassy Suites and Convention Center the most recent.

But Mingus downplayed any rivalry or competition. "We support the endeavors going on now in Peoria and we believe they support what we are doing. All of them will be big tourist and convention draws and will work to all our benefit. All the mayors in the region support each other. There is nothing wrong with wanting your town to be the best it can be, but that doesn't mean you don't assist each other. We do," he said.

Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis agreed. "I think what is happening in East Peoria is exciting for the entire region. It makes the region stronger," he said.

"The days of Peoria being the big dog are long gone. We are what we are. Peoria may still be the drive, but its nice that people can have choices where to go throughout the region, whether it's here, East Peoria, or in Pekin or Washington or Morton. It's the 'rising tide' concept. We are the largest metropolitan region outside of Chicago and that's what we have to talk about, what we have to sell," Ardis said.

The secret to East Peoria's successes, Brimberry said, has much to do with the diligence the City Council employs when determining what is good for the community. The calculations, he added, are usually based on conservative estimates. "It has to show there will be some payoff in the future," he said.

Mingus said the current City Council – himself and commissioners Dan Decker, Tim Jeffers, Gary Densberger and Chad Joos – is a confident group, thanks largely to the successes of their predecessors. "We are confident we can make prudent development decisions that will help the community. That, in turn, is helping our citizens develop more confidence in the city," he said.

"Every deal we do we have to justify it to our constituents. That's why economic development alone isn't the goal. The goal is to improve and enhance the quality of life for our residents and to lower taxes through that development."

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