Daily Archives: July 6, 2007

Museum Block

Museum officials: “Focus on what we’re gaining”

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The museum partners unveiled the latest plans for Peoria Riverfront Museum at a news conference today. Are you ready? Here they are:


This is the view from Washington and Liberty Streets (above).


And this is an aerial view from above Washington Street (above).

Also, you can check out their slide presentation (in PDF format) by clicking here.

Museum officials were upbeat at the presentation, focusing on the positive. They explained that construction costs have risen at a much quicker rate than could have been anticipated based on historical data, and that’s the reason they’ve had to redesign the building. But, they were quick to add, they are not changing the museum-goer’s experience. The programming aspect of the museum has been maintained and, according to officials, even improved.

Lakeview Museum President Jim Richerson challenged those in attendance to not focus on the loss of square footage or various elements that have been eliminated, but rather “focus on what we’re gaining.” What we’re gaining, he said, was a more functional, efficient, and visitor-friendly museum with three times the space of the current Lakeview Museum.

The building facades are going to remain metal to blend with the “reflective quality” of the Illinois river. The 70-foot tall giant screen theater portion of the campus remains, as does the planetarium (though in a silo-shaped structure instead of the original design). The new footprint of the museum is bigger because all the exhibit space is on one floor now. The programming of the museum remains intact.

Officials are particularly proud of the the structure being what they call a “sustainable building.” They refer to its “green architecture,” its bioswales, and the fact that 90% of the material removed from the site has already been recycled (for example, used in the I-74 reconstruction).

The unique architecture of the building was held up as a compelling draw for tourists. Richerson stated “there is nothing cookie-cutter about it” and is “something we can be extremely proud of.” He also compared reaction to the plans with the initial reaction people had to the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Museum officials believe that the structure has an “urban face” on the Washington side because it comes closer to the street than before and has the mass of the 70-foot-tall theater. But on the Water Street side, they’ve retained the plaza which “opens up and embraces the river.” Part of that plaza includes 15,000 square feet being reserved for future commercial/retail space. They’ve also lowered the elevation on the Water Street side to allow an additional entrance.

Not pictured above is a black cloud hanging over the museum: funding. Funding has stalled at $24.5 million according to officials, and it was stated that “these next six months will be absolutely critical” to getting some “momentum” in fundraising. One key part of that is the hope that the museum will qualify for New Market Tax Credits; they hope to hear something by the end of October or first part of November.

HOPC, Museum Block

HOPC finishes work plan, takes stand on Museum Square changes

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Once again, today may have been the Heart of Peoria Commission’s last meeting. On July 24, the city council will take up the issue of whether to change the commission’s status (that is, decommission it) or let it continue to meet. One question the council has is this: if the commission continues to meet, what work will it do?

That was the goal of the commission’s meetings last Friday and today: to develop a work plan to submit to the council. The top two goals the commission set were:

  1. Advocate and promote New Urbanism for transportation and public space.
  2. Assist in the implementation of the Land Development Code and Form District Codes.

On the first goal, it was recognized that the Land Development Code and Form District Codes primarily dealt with regulating private development (zoning, land use, etc.), and it was time to turn the commission’s attention to the public space. If there isn’t the public investment in “fixing the streets” (i.e., repairing deteriorating streets and sidewalks and, in doing so, improving them so that they accommodate a balance of uses — pedestrian, bicycle, mass transit, as well as automobiles), then the private development will be stunted. The commission can help facilitate progress in this area through the charrette process, education, input in the comprehensive plan, etc.

On the second goal, we also recognized that the work isn’t done yet with the form districts or the broader Land Development Code. We can work with the Planning department to develop a marketing plan for these areas, similar to what has been done on West Main with the Renaissance Park area through the efforts of the Renaissance Park Commission. We want to raise awareness of the opportunities that exist for redevelopment specifically in the form district areas but also throughout the Heart of Peoria Plan Area.

To help save staff time (and ultimately money), the commission agreed to reduce the frequency of meetings to every other month and disband its standing subcommittees. But in doing so, the commission also emphasized the importance of having the dual appointments of Heart of Peoria Commissioners on other city commissions (Planning, Traffic, Zoning Board of Approvals, etc.) as proposed in the original communication from the Mayor.

In other business, the commission also passed a resolution recommending to the city council that they deny the proposed changes to museum square and require that any future changes be in conformity with the Heart of Peoria Plan and the principles of New Urbanism. Specifically, the building mass on the block should be getting bigger, not smaller. If the museum portion needs to shrink, that’s understandable, but then part of the block should be reopened for private development, preferably mixed-use development that would include residential and retail components to keep the block busy perpetually and add more density to such a prime area of the central business district. The resolution passed by a 4-3 vote and marks the first time the commission has taken a position on the future of the former Sears block.