A Fast Break Into The 1990's

Centralia, IL — Four thousand dollars doesn't seem like a lot. But when $4,000 per person is being spent during the course of a year for business development in a town of 15,000, it's a building boom. Where? It isn't near Silicon Valley or the Hi-Tech Beltway in Boston. It's in Centralia, which used to be just another small town in Southern Illinois, 60 miles east of St. Louis, Missouri.

Centralia is best known for its basketball teams, its 1940's oil boom (hundreds of wells are still pumping strong,) and its being a key switching post for the nation's railways.

While many towns struggle for survival, Centralia is rebounding and making a fast break into the 1990's. Not only is industry spending, City management is refurbishing the downtown area. Streetscape projects totaling $1.5 million are expected to bring more retail business back downtown. It is all part of a grand scheme to revitalize the town. As Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Mary Heitzig says, "With a whole new downtown coming on-board, we've had more inquiries on available retail and office space downtown than anybody can ever imagine."

Corporations usually pull their operations out of a town and never look in the rear view mirror. Not so in Centralia, Illinois. Plastiflex International is coming back, back to the Southern Illinois town where they closed their plant 3 years ago. And that's not all. Plastiflex finds itself in good company. All told, in excess of $60 million has been spent this past year investing in Centralia.

— Rockwell International, $13 million expansion and new equipment program.
— Universal Packaging, $9 million expansion.
— St. Mary's Hospital, $7.8 million expansion and renovation program.
— Sewage treatment plant improvements, 6.2 million.
— Centralia Village nursing home and assisted living center, $5 million.
— Kaskaskia College, new $3.3 million classroom building.
— Last phase of Route 161 traffic couple project, improving traffic flow east and west through Centralia, $2.5 million.
— Plastiflex International, $2.2 million.
— Repaying of existing two-lane Route 51 south of Centralia, $1.8 million.
— New downtown motel, $1.5 million.
— Downtown streetscape work and other improvements, $1.5 million.
— Littlefuse expansion, and improvements, $1.3 million.
— Continuing new subdivision development, $1.2 million.
— New Ford-Lincoln-Mercury dealership construction, $1 million.
— Rax Restaurant construction, $685,000.
— Industrial "spec" building in Centralia Industrial Park, $650,000.
— Warehouse to be constructed in Centralia Industrial Park, $650,000.
— Improvement of the Centralia water treatment plant, $400,000.
— Big Three Precision reequipping project, $250,000.
— CMCI, expansion and reequipping, $65,000.

"What makes this building boom so positive," says Chamber of Commerce Director Mary Heitzig, "is the broad base of participation. Not only do we see Industry investing heavily, but so is state and local government along with private investment. We are averaging 20 inquiries per week about available industrial sites and retail and office space." With all this interest 1989 promises to be a continuation of 1988 and perhaps even bigger. Already Wal-Mart plans to begin construction in spring for a new store with 69,000 square feet.

A $60 million dollar building boom means that $164.3 thousand dollars is being invested in Centralia, Illinois every day. Turning the pages on the calendar has never been more fun for Centralia residents. •

Page 16 / Illinois Municipal Review / January 1989