I wasn’t able to attend the press conference today, but here’s the official press release of what was announced:
Peoria, IL – The area’s most prominent business leaders today announced they are backing a new capital campaign dubbed “Build the Block!” Its goal: to raise $8 million and the public awareness needed to help create a building block of our future.
Through a group known as the CEO Roundtable, a Heartland Partnership Organization, these leaders strive to drive economic and cultural development in the region. The multi-faceted project they are supporting encompasses both Caterpillar’s planned visitor center, and the Peoria Riverfront Museum, a collaboration of the Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences, Peoria Regional Museum Society, Peoria Historical Society, African American Hall of Fame and Illinois High School Association (IHSA). The development will also include art and history exhibits for all ages, an IHSA Peak Performance Center, and state-of-the-art planetarium and IMAX theatre facilities, all in a park-like campus designed to transform seven vacant acres overlooking the Illinois River in downtown Peoria.
It’s estimated the development will attract more than 360,000 visitors and up to $14 million in Peoria County revenues annually. The funding strategy for The Block calls for 58 percent of the total funding or $78 million to be raised through private contributions; to date $66 million has been committed.
To reach its $8 million private funding goal by early 2009, all community members are encouraged to donate through BuildTheBlock.org. In addition, the Riverfront Museum collaborators are continuing a capital campaign to raise private funds from patrons.
Remaining funding will come from a combination of government sources in 2009. The Block has garnered significant bipartisan political support from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood, State Sens. Dave Koehler and Dale Risinger, State Reps. David Leitch and Aaron Schrock, and Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis.
To kick off the Build the Block! campaign, the fence surrounding the currently vacant site of The Block, bordered by Washington, Main, Water and Liberty streets, has seen some colorful improvements. Panels now pop with oversize graphics and informative panels sharing the excitement of what’s to come inside the fence—from “Hang with the Stars” touting cutting-edge planetarium shows and “Feel the Noise” introducing the benefits of the planned stories-tall IMAX theatre, to “Master Full,” previewing the prestige of top Smithsonian exhibits the new museum will accommodate.
For more information about the project, including the latest news and funding developments, check out our website www.BuildTheBlock.org or you can contact Renee Charles at The Heartland Partnership at 495-5905, 229-7791 or e-mail rcharles@h-p.org.
They have consistently, over the years, talked about how they expected to get a certain percentage of the funding from private donors and the rest from public sources. The announcement today was about their efforts to close the gap in private funding. But even if they’re able to do that, they still won’t have enough public funding to make this museum plan a reality.
The public sources were supposed to be the federal government (earmarks from Ray LaHood) and the state (which, if you haven’t noticed, is not doing very well financially these days). The justification was that this is a “regional museum” and would draw people from all over the state and, it’s sometimes claimed, the nation. But, since neither of those public funding sources have panned out as planned, that’s why the museum group is attempting to get those funds at the county level through a county-wide sales tax (or less probably, a property tax hike).
The trouble is, we can’t afford it. We’ve got big expenses coming up in Peoria. The school district is starting on their new school buildings, bonds for the new library upgrades will be on our next property tax bill, construction has started on a new publicly-funded airport terminal, and the $100+ million CSO project is looming, just to name a few things. State and federal funding sources would impact us here in Central Illinois very little because those funds are being drawn from a larger pool of taxpayers. A county-wide sales tax, however, would be a huge burden on a population already reeling from increased taxes on top of inflated fuel and food prices.
Furthermore, polls have already shown that the chances of voters approving a tax increase at referendum is slim. How long are we going to keep beating this dead horse? It’s time to come up with a new plan.
“The funding strategy for The Block calls for 58 percent of the total funding or $78 million to be raised through private contributions; to date $66 million has been committed.”
– Committed? Please explain.
Tell me if I am wrong, but nothing in this campaign appears to be different from any OTHER campaign.
– “It’s estimated the development will attract more than 360,000 visitors and up to $14 million in Peoria County revenues annually.”
Even David P. Jordan would find these figures…..questionable!
“Remaining funding will come from a combination of government sources in 2009.”
Interesting it says “Will come” from goverment sources, Is that the County wide tax? Or what?
It doesn’t matter where the funding comes from it eventually all trickles down to our taxes that we pay. Government funding is just another way to say “our taxes”. Our state is in trouble, infrastructure is in trouble, people are losing their homes and their jobs. That is where the tax money comes from. So where is this millions of dollars going to come from? The average joe simply doesn’t have anymore money to pay for these things. Gas prices are killing us, food prices are going out of sight. And Ameren CILCO is going to raise our utilities this coming year, so where are the additional taxes going to come from? I love it when the powers that be say it will only be a few cents. Well that few cents has added up to big dollars for this area over the last ten years and we are choking on it and can’t even repair our streets and sidewalks. We can’t afford street patrols because of the gas. We can’t afford road kill pick up because of the gas. So how the heck can we afford a museum that we can’t afford to drive too?
People! People!
I am sure that the omniscient “business leaders” of our community know what’s best for Peoria, and OUR museum. I must admit, I had NO idea that getting an MBA included taking courses in museum studies.
My problem with the museum is that it’s going to cover too many topics. Look at decent museums that people DO drive to. They are specific in what they show. If Peoria was to build a specific museum (or an aquarium would be nice!), then yes, I do think they would have people drive here. But I don’t see them doing that.
How about the “C.E.O. Roundtable” donates some of their own money for a consultant to study why the public isn’t firmly behind this great idea?
And listen to Ardis’s quotes on this. They were on the 3 P.M. MBD news, but weren’t on the 4. Verrry weird.
In case you haven’t noticed, SD, the people pushing this plan don’t have any idea what the “average joe” faces on a day to day basis, and they don’t care.
Like the trail nuts, they want what they want and you are going to pay for it. What don’t you understand about that?
New Voice wrote; Even David P. Jordan would find these figures…..questionable!
Should that be “Even David P. Jordan would find these figures questionable!”?
No need for the extra dots. Anyway, a Caterpillar museum, if marketed well, might attract 360,000 annual visitors, but if the place is never built, like that embarrassing gap in the Toulon – Morton trail, Peoria will still survive…and prosper!
There is nothing weird about MBD not having the Ardis sound at 4. Sometimes you mix up the sound bytes, or run an abridged version of the story at later times. It means nothing that it wasn’t on at 4.
WOW, who does their math? That is a 1,000 people a day, every day, every year. If you think their fundraising goals is overly optomistic….
I could have swore that I heard on WMBD, Ardis echoing the whole.. ooh “Cat might leave if we don’t build this museum” meme?
So when does the counter campaign start? “Don’t be a Block Head, No Museum Taxes!”
The closest comparison is John Deere Commons in Moline, which opened in August 1997. If the 1.5 million visitors are counted through August 2007 – as full ten years – it has seen about 150,000 average annual visitors.
http://www.deere.com/en_US/attractions/pavilion/history.html
Am I calculating the bean count correctly? The museum would approximately cost $134.4 M and the taxpayers from the various levels are coming up with $76.4 M for bricks and mortar plus interest plus ongoing maintenance for this Blockhead Idea?
Just jabbing at you David.
John Deere-Moline is doing well. The problem IS the numbers; 150,000 annual ‘visitors’ is NOT the same thing as 150,000 ‘PAYING’ visitors, etc. Many museum exhibits may be free to public, but unless people plan on coming from out-of-town [hotels, dining out, etc] the financial gain for Peoria area is mostly [0]. Museums like John Deere, Lakeview etc, count everyone as a ‘visitor,’ including the countless local school kids, scouts, etc [who might pay a buck?]. CAT may want to use the museum as a showcase for kissing up to potential clients, but I do not see the windfall predicted by museum know-it-alls [especially $14 million annually!]. Lastly, I see NO plan in place for funding the museum once it is built! Unless everyone at Lakeview plans on donating their time and services, there is going to be a hefty bill to pay at the end of every year. Hopefully they will take a cue and utilize the vaunted Peoria Historical Society banking and accounting plan……….IMAX and Planets? Maybe cool, but $14 million annually…don’t see it.
Ian, I meant that the actual quotes were weird, not that MBD didn’t have them on during the 4 newscast.
This is a massive pork project in the middle of a city with schools that are completely failing. Sewage is dumping into the river with every rain. Shootings are a weekly occurrence or more. But let’s build a museum, why not?
I heard the WMBD sound bites. I also saw the clips on TV (can’t remember which station, though). Both Ardis and Sen. Koehler said almost the same identical thing: (paraphrasing) “What this is all about is cementing our relationship with Cat and keeping them in Peoria.” Ardis went on to say how unique it was that such a large company would have its world headquarters in a town as small as Peoria.
If the only way you can get the money for this museum is by appealing to taxpayers’ worst fears with thinly-veiled threats, it’s a pretty good indication that the project itself cannot stand on its own merits.
Gotcha Marz. Ardis was giving high praise for Cat…saying how lucky we were. Wonder if it means anything.
“If you build it he will come” may have worked for Ray Kinsella & Shoeless Joe, but it doesn’t work for a museum in Peoria.
Lakeview is a nice, local museum, but it’s just that… a LOCAL museum. Show me a realistic marketing plan for attracting people to a “regional museum” in Peoria. Having a fancy new building will not attract more clientele, I’m sorry. As everyone else has said, there are too many other real word expenses that all of us average folks have to deal with to support a museum that people don’t have any confidence in. We already have libraries (I voted for it) and a public television station jockeying for our support, plus higher gas prices, increasing grocery prices, increasing tuition costs for those of us who are students, airport upgrade, no doubt a tax hike from the upcoming sewer project… yet we’re all supposed to be giving what little is left over to the museum. Yeah, I don’t think so.
Maybe they can get a loan from Bank of America and get their financing that way.
If the museum project does draw its target of 1000 additional visitors to the downtown EACH DAY, can the current infrastructure even support that? What kind of additional investment will be required to accommodate the traffic, parking, and other needs of that kind of influx? The average downtown population of Peoria is only 15,000 during the day so we’re talking about an increase of 7%. That may not sound like a lot but in terms of the current infrastructure that would be pretty taxing.
I wonder if the City of Peoria has estimated the increased funding that would be required if the museum were successful?
Maybe we could set up an “anti” fundraiser… we all invest money in the proposition that the museum fails. The when it does, we get to split up the capital left over when the museum declares itself bankrupt!
I bet local businesses and even nearby counties would be willing to invest in that!
“Hey kids, let’s go to Peoria to see the tractor museum!”
“Yeah, Dad. I’m tired of Disneyland and World’s of Fun. I’m bored with going to the beach and seeing Washington DC, Civil War battlefields and Mammoth Caves, The Grand canyon and Yosemite….I don’t want to go to Hannibal and see all the Tom Sawyer stuff, I don’t want to go see the Alamo or The Little Big Horn. Can we spend our whole vacation in Peoria and go swimming in the Peoria Lake, too?”
Who would want to come and here and see it? (other than prospective Caterpillar business partners trying to suck up)
I’ll go one step further on C.J’s last comment and that of Koehler’s (whose comment I did heard). If the only thing keeping Caterpillar in Peoria is this museum complex, and nothing else, then I would venture that Caterpillar isn’t very committed to staying in Peoria anyway. Why would a museum singularily keep Caterpillar anchored here in Peoria? Business is business and economics and not about some amalgam of buildings for tourists or visitors. I don’t know the truth in this matter but something smells about Koehler’s comment. It’s either true and authentic or it’s not. What does he know about Caterpillar that the general public doesn’t know? Tell us Mr. Koehler precisely what Caterpillar said to you on this matter.
Dirk,
You are evil.
OK.
Is it fair to Caterpillar shareholders to spend 50 million dollars on a project that has absolutely no business sense for Cat? Some of us IRA pensioners wonder about that!
Would people come to see the Cat tractors?
It does kind of depend on how they set it up but based on the John Deere pavilion in the Quad Cities, I would say YES. We’ve been there as part of a weekend road trip when our boy was younger. He loved it. It will be more of a regional draw than a national. I can’t see anyone in California saying oh golly lets go to Peoria to see the tractors. But someone in Bloomington or Springfield.. yeah.
“a project that has absolutely no business sense for Cat?”
“other than prospective Caterpillar business partners trying to suck up”
Those partners and customers are a BIG DEAL. They are the ones buying the product. Cat spends a great deal of effort showing visiting business folk around. Cultivating brand image is critical as well. Cat wants prospective customers to think of Cat first. Those kiddies you are toting around.. they could be future employees or customers.
Does this Cat showcase have to be on that block? Maybe not. Does it need to be taxpayer funded? No. There is a business case for Cat to pursue it.
Mahkno,
What you say is true [sort of]. Regional draw…CAT business…blah. We are talking a museum; not just a CAT show-it-all room. What is this damn connection CAT has with the museum? The CAT building can’t stand alone? We are talking a MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR project here. CAT has been posting record profits. Their business is doing just fine without a bullsh_t museum/CAT center combo. You can’t honestly sit there and defend CAT on this one. If they want to BUY the land, build on it…fine. This museum connection is absurd.