City of Delavan working to bring new life to historic downtown
The City of Delavan’s effort to revitalize its downtown area is not only an investment in the community’s future, but a drive to preserve its historic buildings.
Delavan City Administrator Matt Fick acknowledged that when the Harvest Café moved to Peoria in 2017, other downtown businesses shut down.
To counter the economic impact on downtown, the city has to date approved $210,000 in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) redevelopment agreements for five local businesses, as well as $13,000 in various façade improvement grants.
“We’ve done different things over the last few years to try to build momentum and some confidence for investors to come to town,” Fick said. “These projects will kind of breathe new life into downtown, which will be key for our sales taxes.”
One of the city’s more significant redevelopment agreements was a $100,000 deal with Keystone Construction Enterprises, Inc., for the acquisition, stabilization, and improvements to two 19th Century buildings on Locust Street.
Keystone owner Adrian Rabe intends to install six apartments in the two buildings and lease 1,600 square feet of retail space to prospective business owners.
“We had two very distressed buildings,” said Rabe. “We had greenery growing up through the floors and a lot of structural concerns. Those have been remedied and now we’re going to have two apartments in the rear (of the buildings), retail in the front and four apartments upstairs. The City has been instrumental in putting this together and making things work smoothly.”
According to Fick, the City of Delavan has adopted three complementary initiatives to revitalize downtown.
The Commercial Corridor Plan, developed in 2019 by the Peoria-based engineering consultant Dewberry, is a guide for future development that focuses on attracting new visitors and businesses.
The City of Delavan Strategic Plan, developed in 2021 by City Council and staff, created a guide for development over the next three to five years.
And a 2022 Downtown Development Plan from the consulting firm Win Together, LLC highlights the importance of community engagement and aligning downtown growth with citizens’ interests.
“We've done quite a bit of internal reflection as to what do we want to do, where do we want to go, and what do we want to be,” said Fick. “I think a lot of communities fly blind. They say ‘we're business friendly,’ but what does that mean? Do they have the processes in place and the policies in place that match that statement? So, we want to be able to back up what we say and have programs and policies in place that are business friendly.”
Fick indicated that prospective entrepreneurs have expressed interest in opening an Italian restaurant at the site of the defunct Old Town Bar and Grill, and an ice cream and candy shop at the site of the former Captain Zak’s Sugar Shack.
Revolution Cannabis has purchased the buildings once occupied by The Harvest Café for a dispensary. Because the facility will employ about 200 people with an average age of 26, Fick predicted it will help bring new life to downtown Delavan while creating a demand for more activities catering to young people.
“We've done surveys of (Revolution’s) work force to try to find out what they're looking for,” he said. A lot of it is there's just not enough to do for a young person in town. So, we're trying to create that type of environment to where they want to live here, which spurs on developers to build houses and apartments because there's a demand for them.”
This article originally appeared on Pekin Daily Times: Two 19th Century buildings in Delavan, Illinois being remodeled
