Monday Can Be a Turning Point for Galesburg
We can choose to make a better investment in our town
The City Council meets this Monday, November 1st 2021, and there is a big item on the agenda that has the potential for big impacts.
The item in question is seen here, item 21-4101:
Seems pretty simple enough, approving an agreement to apply for a grant that brings free money to the town. What could be bad about that?
The short version of this post is summarized here: The chosen project is not a true investment in our town. It is a renovation of a downtown parking lot and a block or two of street around it. If we really want Galesburg to grow we need to make investments that have actual returns. We should use that money to help renovate the buildings downtown in a way that actually makes the businesses more resilient and brings people downtown. That investment should be incentivizing downtown building owners to put apartments in their unused spaces.
Okay, now if you want the long version I’ll elaborate.
The Grant
So what is the grant we are applying for? It’s a one time program called the Rebuild Downtown and Main Street Grant Program by the State of Illinois as a part of their COVID relief efforts. It is designed to give the state’s downtowns a little nudge after the hardships brought by the coronavirus.
So what kind of projects can be funded by this grant? The listed acceptable uses are as follows:
Roads, parking, and sidewalks
Transit, pedestrian, or bicycle infrastructure
Broadband infrastructure
Water/sewer infrastructure
Public spaces, such as parks and plazas, including lighting and landscaping
Sustainable investment in or modernization of structures in disrepair
Mixed-use development or transit-oriented development
The amounts awarded by the grant can range from $250,000 to $3 million, with $50 million in total to be awarded. The city wouldn’t be required to provide any matching funds but has a better chance of being selected if they put up some money. The projects specifically have to be in downtowns along with some other requirements our downtown seems to qualify for.
If there is a grant we qualify for we should absolutely apply for it, but what is the project we have chosen?
The Project
I’ll link the project description here. The description is on page 24 but the real details of the project start on page 34 of the pdf.
This is the main graphic that shows the scope of the project. The plan is to renovate and resurface parking lot H and rework that block of Simmons along with some possible changes one block West as well. The proposed project is asking for $2 million in grant money with the city putting up $400,000.
I will say straightforwardly that I do not think this project is going to have any meaningful benefit for our town. You may be thinking, “don’t you want a better looking downtown?” I’d say yes, but it shouldn’t be our first priority right now.
Our downtown is a long way from what it once was. For starters that parking lot we’re looking to renovate used to be a whole block of buildings. I get that times change but there is one thing I know for certain, a parking lot is just a parking lot. Renovating the parking lot will not make it anymore productive. I don’t think any businesses or pedestrians will come to the area because we have a nicer parking lot next to a street with more trees. In my opinion, all parking lots are ugly no matter how much you dress them up.
Truly the main issue with the project is that it isn’t really an investment. Our downtown isn’t going to be any stronger or more resilient because of this project. Property values aren’t going to go up, it’s not going to attract new foot traffic, new revenue isn’t going to be generated for either the city or businesses, it’s not going to inspire any new private investment, and for sure the parking lot won’t become any more productive.
People and businesses come downtown because that’s where other people and businesses are, it’s a positive feedback loop. The reason downtown is struggling compared to its history is because there are fewer people downtown. Fewer people downtown means fewer businesses downtown. People and businesses don’t come because the streets are pretty or a parking lot has some trees. We have the parking lot just North of Main off Ferris St with trees and dividers.
Has that prettier parking lot helped spur development downtown? I’d say no.
A Better Plan
For a better plan we need to look towards the last two types of projects listed in the grant:
Sustainable investment in or modernization of structures in disrepair
Mixed-use development or transit-oriented development
We should lean into those because I believe we could do actual investments that will benefit downtown, and bring some people back to the area.
Downtown has three big issues that could be solved together: a fair number of empty buildings, building owners looking for additional revenue so they can stay afloat, and lots of upper levels that are empty or underutilized. We should use the grant money to create a local grant program to incentivize building owners to put apartments in their unused spaces downtown. If you look up at the upper levels around downtown you see many spaces that just look empty.
Getting more apartments downtown turns empty or underused spaces into productive spaces. There is demand for more housing, specifically apartments, and those are spots that can help serve the need. With these new apartments the building owners will have more revenue. More revenue keeps the buildings alive and gives the owners more resources to make future renovations by themselves. It will also raise property values which will boost the city’s revenue.
With more people living downtown it will help increase foot traffic which will likely lead to increased revenue for the businesses downtown. If there are more people downtown and businesses are doing better then eventually new businesses may come and build on some of the empty lots we have.
I think a program like this or a similar project would be a win for downtown business and building owners, a win for people needing housing, a win for the city, and in the end could be a win in the fight to grow Galesburg this decade.
We have to act, the deadline for the grant is January 1, 2022, so we’ll have to get working. But I think incentivizing real investment in downtown will be more valuable in the long term than making a parking lot slightly less ugly.