Local: Ask and ye shall receive? Not for the museum, anymore

November 9, 2007
By Billy Dennis

The downtown museum backers asked the Peoria County Board to give them $24 million. That’s $24 million in taxpayer dollars. They can’t talk ordinary donors to cough it up voluntarily, so they want every single taxpayer in the county to pay up involuntarily. Seriously.

If the board says “no,” that might very well mean the end of the effort to turn a prime piece of downtown commercial real estate into a tourist attraction that probably won’t get many visitors, except for school buses full of kids from local schools.

The County Board will be a tough sell (why someone living in Elmwood or Princeville should have to pay one thin dime for this is beyond me) but not as tough a sale as asking the Peoria City Council would have been. The Gang of 11 is sick to death of this thing and resent being continually being asked to cough up more money for a project that started off as a simple history of Peoria Museum.

My two cents: Stop trying to get smart and just put the damn think up for sale. Downtown is supposed to be the city’s prime commercial location. Try putting residential development on it. The Heart of Peoria Plan is supposed to be all about mixing retail and commercial. Downtown sorely lacks residential. It lacks retail, too, as most of the buildings are office space. I’d rather see a strip mall there than nothing.

The site of the former Sears block could be occupied now — perhaps with s shopping mall — if the control freaks running this city would stop being control freaks and be open minded to whatever legitimate development comes down the pike, whether or not it ruins the precious view of the river or not.

And I am eagerly awaiting tomorrow’s Journal Star editorial demanding that the County Board give them anything they ask.

Tags: , ,

This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not currently loaded because either your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or they didn't load fast enough.

4 Responses to “ Local: Ask and ye shall receive? Not for the museum, anymore ”

  1. Emtronics on November 9, 2007 at 5:48 am

    I hope and pray that the board tells them where to get off and doesn’t offer up one red cent. I too would love to see a mall type development which would include a small 3 screen movie theatre. It would be nice to go downtown, do some shopping, grab a meal, and see a movie. It doesn’t have to be 3 screens, it can be anything but it should be something that is privately developed and generates tax money. Dirt lots generate nothing.

  2. A smart person on November 9, 2007 at 8:37 am

    I just heard that they are going to put the, “Worlds Largest Payday Loan,” place there. Its going to be designed like a palace, and they are only going to charge 300% interest, and your first $15 payment is free for the month of January.

  3. Common Sense Dude on November 9, 2007 at 10:12 am

    I’ve always said that instead of tearing up some of the richest farmland in the world to build the Shoppes of Grand Prairie, that mall should have been built on the Sears block downtown.

    It could have also included a drug and grocery store as well as a theater. Or an IMAX would really be great.

    Instead we’ll get a 9 to 5 museum that will fail miserably. If Cat wants it’s welcome center, let them pay for it. They could pay for it out of petty cash.

  4. Thinking positive on November 9, 2007 at 3:13 pm

    Counties often have a significant stake in the success of museums. Students from the outlying schools seem to benefit from being more involved in Lakeview activities than the District 150 kids.

    An IMAX is still part of the plan — digital, even. And programming into the evenings.