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Staff / WCBU
The City of Peoria is exploring the creation of a new tax increment financing district (TIF) in an effort to spur development at the long-vacant southeast corner of War Memorial Drive and University Street.
The empty nine-acre site that once contained a car dealership at one of Peoria’s busiest intersections has stood empty for nearly a decade.
Community Development Director Ross Black said city staff believe a TIF district designation may be justified due to numerous indicators of blight at the site that have turned away potential developers over the years.
“Deterioration, environmental issues, lack of growth of EAV, inadequate utilities.multiple factors that we believe would qualify this area,” said Black.
The battle for Peoria City Council’s 3rd District involves the incumbent, a former seat-holder and a political newcomer.
The field includes Tim Riggenbach, who has won the last three elections to represent the district; Gale Thetford, who held the seat for two terms; and activist and writer Lawrence Maushard.
Gale Thetford
Thetford, 68, served 21 years as general counsel for the Illinois Department on Aging. She served two terms as the representative of the district, from 1997 to 2005, before losing the spot to Bob Manning.
Thetford touts advocating for Heartland Health Services, for which she sits on the board of directors. Two recent actions by the agency the purchase of the Wisconsin Plaza and its presence alongside OSF HealthCare at the former Cub Foods site not only have boosted medical care of the East Bluff but helped stabilize the 3rd District, she said.
Peoria, IL, USA 104.9 The Wolf
Grayson Bourke
PEORIA, Ill. The East Bluff Community Center has announced it will be rolling out a new and improved facility.
“It’s really based around having a new logo, and we’re going to use that for driving a building revitalization. We’re going to be doing a lot of painting and design within the building,” said EBCC Executive Director Kari Jones.
“We’re in an old school building, so it still looks like an old school. So, this rebranding I call it kind of branding, because we’ve never had a brand before is going to drive also a beautification of the building, using the same colors and concepts this new logo has.”
PEORIA Crunching through snow and sliding on ice, Chama St. Louis carefully but gamely trudges house to house on the East Bluff.
Since September, she has spent nearly every Saturday knocking on doors, hoping to convince residents to vote for her in the race for Peoria’s mayor. It’s hard work, harder still when the temperature hovers around freezing.
“There’s definitely an art to door-knocking,” St. Louis, 35, says with a light chuckle. “It’s not for the weak of heart.”
Bundled for the weather, she doesn’t mind gingerly stepping along icy steps or unshoveled sidewalks, or even (as in one case) tripping over a discarded can of Milwaukee’s Best Ice poking just above the snow. As a community organizer, she has had experience rallying people to action. But in campaigning, first she has to find ears willing to listen for a minute or two.