PEORIA MAGAZINE March 2023

COVER STORIES 28 Reviving Downtown By Mike Bailey

SPOTLIGHTS 40 Breathing New Life into Peoria’s Downtown By Amy Talcott 42 Saving Old Buildings Is ‘In His Blood’ By Lisa Coon 46 Building Downtown’s Future One Building and Block At a Time By Steve Tarter 52 The Captains Behind the Curtain By Linda Smith Brown 56 Devotion to Downtown By Laurie Pillman

60 Commerce and Compassion, Finding a Balance By Phil Luciano 64 ‘They Paved Paradise, and Put Up a Parking Lot’ By Linda Smith Brown 66 The Sounds of Silence In Downtown Peoria By Steve Stein 84 Once Upon a Time, America’s Leaders Worked Together By Chris Kaergard 92 Whatever Happened to

COVER ART:: “From Empty to Awesome,” original illustration by Missy Shepler ABOVE ART: “Finding a Pulse,” original illustration by Missy Shepler

Shanghai City? By Phil Luciano

2 MARCH 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE