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LETTERS
A plan to save Your article regarding the future of Illinois' small towns (see Illinois Issues, February 1997, page 22) raises important issues communities are facing in their efforts to boost a local economy. For many small towns, the challenge has been to restore and revitalize a downtown district that has become an economic ghost town. Communities, however, do not have to meet this challenge alone. Since 1993 my office has developed and directed the Illinois Main Street initiative to help communities with populations under 50,000 develop comprehensive long-range economic development plans for their downtown districts. The goal of this program is to do more than just help these communities "stay alive." It is to see them remain viable and vibrant economically. We began the program in nine rural Illinois towns. Today, the program is working in 25 downstate communities and 13 in the greater Chicago area. Illinois Main Street follows the Four-Point Approach developed by the National Main Street Center providing direct technical assistance to communities in the areas of organization, design, promotion and economic restructuring. It operates in cooperation with the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs. In each of the participating communities there is a genuine commitment by the citizens to strengthen their Main Streets, revive their downtown areas and take responsibility for their economic future. The Main Street Program is not a "quick fix" or a government handout for economic development. In fact, no grant money is involved. Instead, it is a self-help initiative providing local leaders and business and property owners with the technical assistance they need to improve their communities. The Main Street approach encourages private reinvestment in the downtown. Private dollars, which help support the local program, are used to purchase and renovate buildings and start new businesses. Many times these businesses are locally owned and employ people within their community. Recent economic development statistics prove that this grass-roots approach is working. Since 1995, active communities have reported the following gains: 150 new downtown businesses; 308 full-time and 189 part-time jobs; more than $5.3 million spent on new downtown construction; and more than $5.2 million of private reinvestment in 194 different downtown rehabilitation projects. Examples of these success stories can be found throughout the state. In Rushville, the Main Street program rallied to restore the town's fire-damaged Phoenix Opera House. Built in 1882, the opera house is now serving as a small conference center. The program is also working to increase [Rushville's] visibility as an art and cultural center in west central Illinois. Along with these efforts, the program assisted with efforts to form a for-prof-it corporation to purchase and reopen the historic Princess Theater. Volunteers now operate the facility, running the projection booth, taking tickets and selling popcorn. In Ava, the Main Street organization is taking a small local industry, its emu ranches, and working to increase the potential for exporting related byproducts. Last fall, the program joined with the community to host the first Emu & Crafts Festival. By adding the emu focus through a cook-off and food stand to the existing festival, the event doubled the number of people coming to this town of 800. These accomplishments speak for themselves, but community leaders in each of our towns will affirm that the Illinois Main Street program has been the catalyst for making them happen.
Bob Kustra
Only in the negative It is all very well to lament siltation in the Illinois River, causing its "disappearance" (see Illinois Issues, January 1997, page 22). Given the sentiment, it should have been incumbent on the editors to facilitate "finding" it in the published photographs. To the best of my knowledge, the Illinois Power Co. plant at Havana is at its 1946 location, south of the bridge on the east bank. There is no view such as you printed — apart from film negatives, of course.
Luanda Boyd 40 /April 1997 Illinois Issues |
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