Peoria Illinoisan

The Main Street revitalization that is Renaissance Park may take a step backwards unless Barbara Van Auken can convince the rest of the council that an upscale neighborhood bar and grill is a good idea for an abandoned storefront in a not so great area of Main Street.

The location is the old and troubled Gaslight II that has been closed for several years. It seems some of the more vocal residents think any bar at that location will be nothing more than the Gaslight with a new name.

“This is a dangerous neighborhood. We’ve had three shootings in the neighborhood in 45 days.” Another bar will just add to the crime, opponents said.

There have been several shootings in the area lately, including the most recent fatal shooting at Frink and Columbia Terrace, which is not in the neighborhood behind this location. Should we oppose a neighborhood bar near the old Walgreens? What if Get-R-Done PayDay Loans could be turned into a bar and grill? Should that be opposed also? How about the empty building that used to hold the Peoria Record Company? Is any location acceptable, or is it only misguided fear from the reputation of the Gaslight?

If the opponents want Renaissance Park to succeed, which in turn would improve the neighborhood, this should be approved. There hasn’t been much movement on Main and this is one of the first investors willing to take a huge risk by opening an upscale bar and grill in an area that desperately needs some positive improvement. It would start a buzz and most certainly prosper further growth in that area.

Or we could leave the Gaslight as the eyesore that it is, and put out the word to future investors that the longheld belief is true and nothing has changed. Peoria is impossible to work with, even in an area that is begging for new business, so why even try.

I hope the Council will do the right thing and not stick their heads in the sand.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006 at 1:14 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.