Food truck, entertainment park proposed to help bring East St. Louis community together
A new entertainment and food truck park is in the works for East St. Louis.
Establishing a park for the citizens of East St. Louis is a goal for lifelong resident Thomas Brown.
His vision for the park is to provide a welcoming place where residents can “all just come and eat, chill, … support our own businesses, support our own people, just a place where we can enjoy each other in our city.”
Brown said he visited food truck parks in other cities, noted how nice they look and wants to bring something similar to East St. Louis.
East St. Louis Mayor Robert Eastern III, in a brief phone interview, said: “I think it’s an excellent idea.”
Small businesses are the cornerstone of a successful community, so any new opportunity to bring commerce to East St. Louis is a welcome one, according to Eastern, who spoke to Brown about his plans a few months ago.
The park will have space to accommodate at least six food trucks.
It will also have a large stage area at its center for live music and other entertainment on the weekends.
Brown created a Facebook page and YouTube video for the proposed park.
The video includes a virtual walk-through of the space, which is pretty cool. Viewers can get a closer look at the envisioned park, which will feature food trucks, landscaping, seating and plenty of room to play and hang out.
A series of small storefronts would also make up part of the space.
Brown said he plans room for at least six separate businesses that would ideally include a barber shop and a nail salon. He would also like to see a Tropical Sno – which the city currently lacks – a barbecue shack and a small boutique among the possible businesses.
Eastern said Brown’s park would be excellent for people to get a start on their businesses.
Anyone interested in adding their business to the park can reach out to Brown via the imthomasb Facebook page.
Brown is open to input and advice from others.
“I have a no-excuse attitude,” said Brown, “so if I don’t get opinions from other people, I have people that I know that will support me.”
One of those people is fellow East St. Louis activist J.D. Dixon, who has known Brown for a few years and worked with him on community cleanup projects in the community.
In a phone interview, Dixon said he thinks Brown’s design and ideas would be a great source of economic growth for the community of East St. Louis.
It would provide a venue that hasn’t been in East St. Louis before, as far as he can remember, said Dixon.
Once the project is underway, Dixon plans to be a part of it.
“Whatever I can do, I will do,” he said, whether it’s building, construction, outreach or marketing.
So where will the park be located?
“It’s gonna be in the downtown area,” said Brown. “[For] most of my [organized] clean-ups, I focus on cleaning up the downtown area, down by City Hall, by the MetroLink, and down the strip on Collinsville Avenue.”
Brown already purchased just under an acre downtown for the entertainment and food truck park.
He isn’t ready to reveal the exact location. He’s working to buy adjoining property and doesn’t want to jeopardize a potential agreement.
If Brown is able to acquire the additional land, it will provide a little over 2 acres for the park.
The rendering and video depicting the park includes the land Brown currently owns. Should he be able to purchase the additional land, he will be able to provide a larger venue for residents.
Overall, the project will likely cost up to $100,000, according to Brown, who is currently funding everything himself.
He has set up a GoFundMe. To donate, visit https://bit.ly/3JbV20b.
Plans for the park are still in their early stages, and Brown is working with City Hall to determine what he needs to do for the project to get the official green light.
Because Brown’s plans have not yet gone through the formal process for approval, East St. Louis Director of Economic/Community Development Shaneal Clayborne declined to comment.
“Realistically, I don’t think that it should take [too] long,” said Brown.
He is hoping that around April, the city will give the OK and he can break ground that month. He hopes to open the park by April 2024.
New information about the project will be reported as it becomes available.
“I’m real passionate about this project,” said Brown. “I hope that we all can come together as a city … as a community to make this happen.”
Brown is already an active member of the community, working with multiple grassroots groups to make East St. Louis a better place.
One group, Clean City Coalition, works to improve environmental, social and economic conditions in East St. Louis. Part of their work includes organizing community cleanup groups in the city.
Brown also works with City of Joy Fellowship, Dixon’s Empire 13 and his own nonprofit organization, BuildN The Foundation, all of which strive to improve East St. Louis.
He feels that the new park would be the next step in getting people to see that East St. Louis has potential.
Dixon agreed, stating that the park would change the narrative they want to paint for the city.
It only takes a few people to make a big change, according to Brown.
“We have the organizations already out here … we have me and [other] people that volunteer …. We hope that sparks something in the rest of the people. And it has. A lot of people are behind us in what we’re doing. We’re cleaning up the community.”
For online updates about the entertainment and food truck park, visit https://bit.ly/3XT3u8V.
