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Peoria's Surprising Architecture: Part Three

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Upcoming issues of The Peorian will feature walking tours of some of Peoria's more interesting areas. This issue is the third of three parts about Downtown Peoria.

In the last issue, we featured nine buildings that have made up Peoria's past. Our walking tour of Downtown Peoria continues this month from the Hotel Pere Marquette, walk down Madison to the end of the same block to find...

18. Sacred Heart Church
504 Fulton Street
Sacred Heart is a Roman Catholic Church in the classic Gothic style and has been serving the Downtown community since 1906. Its 100th anniversary year was celebrated in 2006, which began a thorough restoration and the painting of exquisite murals inside and outside. It has become one of Peoria's most popular attractions.
Cross Fulton Street to...

19. Peoria City Hall
419 Fulton Street
Peoria City Hall was finished in 1899 and was hailed as the finest city hall in the nation for a small city. It is wrapped on all four sides with Lake Superior red sandstone. The Flemish Renaissance design was purposely done by architects Reeves and Baillie to pay tribute to the German immigrants of the 1850s who organized a strong core of city services such as the police and fire departments.
Efforts have recently been made to restore City Hall to its original grandeur. The exquisitely detailed cast iron accents, marble walls and beveled cut-glass windows have been refurbished. The artworks on all four floors tell the stories of the Native American, French and pioneer American cultures that have inhabited Peoria's shores. It ranks as the best of all of Peoria's historic buildings and is a welcome place to explore.
Surrounding Peoria City Hall is ...

20. Peoria Civic Center
201 S.W. Jefferson Street
The Peoria Civic Center opened in 1982 and has been the heart of Peoria's cultural experiences ever since. City leaders hired the most respected architect in the nation, Philip Johnson, to design an arena, exhibit hall, and theater. Johnson said he envisioned the three facilities connected by "a necklace of jewels." The glass arcades would define post-modern architecture and become his international signature.
A collection of modern sculptures and paintings are scattered on the property. Most of Peoria's most prominent living artists — Nita Sunderland, Preston Jackson, Fisher Stolz, Harold Gregor and Lonnie Stewart — are showcased.
Walk across Jefferson Street at Fulton Street to...

21. Jefferson Building
(Civic Center Plaza)
331 Fulton Street
The Jefferson Building was billed as Peoria's first fireproof building when it was built in 1910. The weight of the building was handled for the first time by a steel frame instead of masonry walls. It is Greek Revival in style as you can clearly see defined areas of a base, column and capital, just like a Greek pillar.
Its national prominence comes into play because it was one of the last buildings designed by Chicago architect William LeBaron Jenney, who we now call "the Father of the Skyscraper."
At the end of the block is...

22. Brown's Business College
(Prairie Building)
240 S.W. Jefferson Street
This business school was built in the heart of the downtown in 1902 to fill the needs of the surrounding establishments. The no-nonsense, prairie-style building had large windows for light and expansive rooms for classes with simple geometric decorations on the exterior.
Walk down Fulton Street to Adams Street and the...

23. Commercial National Bank
(PNC Bank)
301 S.W. Adams Street
This Renaissance revival style bank was built in 1925 by Hewitt and Emerson. The carved limestone veneers on the lower levels were meant to have a heavy massive presence for the feel of a stable bank. But if you walk into the main lobby, the arched windows, marble detailing, and elaborate chandeliers have a delicate and light feeling. It is one of Peoria's most impressive indoor public spaces.
Walk down Fulton Street, past the new Peoria Riverfront Museum theater, to Water Street where you will find...

24. Rock Island Depot
(Martini's Bar)
212 S.W. Water Street
The Rock Island depot was built in 1899 when Peoria had more than 100 passenger trains arriving and departing the city every day. The Renaissance revival style building has a Lake Superior sandstone base that gives rise to some of the most complex and interesting brickwork in the city. Many of the original metal brackets and details still exist, but the eight-story clock tower that once predominated over the building was demolished in 1939.

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