Category Archives: City of Peoria

Would you take the train to work?

Imagine you live on the north end of town, close to Pioneer Park, maybe in Dunlap. You get up in the morning, wear your corporate uniform, and hop in your car, but instead of driving all the way downtown to your office, you only drive to the rail crossing at Pioneer Parkway. There, you find a parking lot with a small train depot — a “park and ride.” You park your car, head into the depot and have a cup of coffee and pick up a paper at the newsstand.

Then the train arrives. You get on a 45-passenger commuter railcar that looks something like this:

DMU Railcar

The railcar takes you downtown, making stops at a few places (like Junction City) along the way. The car may run right down by the riverfront, or it could run along a track that would be built down the center of Jefferson Street and meet up with the CityLink transit center at Harrison.

As you’re traveling, you enjoy a smooth ride during which time you can read the paper, check your e-mail, conduct business on your cell phone, or just relax. No driving hassles, no fighting traffic. You enjoy the same ease going home after work. Evenings and weekends, you can take the same train to basketball or hockey games, concerts, Civic Center or other downtown events, shopping in the Heights or at the new and improved Junction City, etc.

If the service in this scenario were available to you, would you use it?

That’s what the Illinois Prairie Railroad Foundation would like to know. They’re investigating the feasibility of commuter rail in Peoria, and they’re betting that people would love it. So, I’d like to do a little non-scientific research and see what my readers think of the idea. What say you?

“Peoria” doesn’t play in Peoria? Oh, the irony

The “Word on the Street” column Monday had this tidbit of information regarding naming the new museum. So far, all we’ve been told is that the name didn’t “test well” in focus groups. But what does that mean? Now we know:

Apparently, it’s not that people don’t like Peoria. Unfortunately, we’re unknown to a majority of the focus groups they interviewed in southern Wisconsin, northern Indiana, St. Louis and Chicagoland.

“Sixty-nine percent said either they didn’t know enough about Peoria or Peoria sounded like a small town to them,” said Woith, adding that proponents want a museum name that will be attractive to tourists far and wide.

So, from this we can deduce that the museum folks are concerned that people won’t come to the museum if it has the name “Peoria” in it because people have never heard of it or think it’s a small town. So, they’re going to call the museum something meaningless, like the “AMAZEum.” Presumably, people from Wisconsin, Chicago, and St. Louis will think that any museum with a name like that is fantastic and must be visited, so (I’m just guessing here) they’ll want to know where this incredible AMAZEum is. They’ll look for an address and perhaps directions on how to get there. Now, where are the museum people going to tell them it’s located? Just outside Chicago? A suburb of Rockford?

But beyond that, I wanted to point out the sheer irony of the situation. You know the phrase you love to hate: “Will it play in Peoria”? Wikipedia has a good entry on that phrase:

The phrase initially came into fashion during the vaudeville era, believed to have been first asked by Groucho Marx when putting together a new act. The belief was that if a new show was successful in Peoria, it would work anywhere in America.

Years later in the 1960s and 1970s, Peoria was deemed an ideal test market by various consumer-focused companies, entertainment enterprises (films and concert tours), even politicans, to gauge opinion, interest and receptivity to new products, services and campaigns.

Isn’t it ironic that a city that had been known throughout the 20th century for its discernment in entertainment and sensibility for testing new products would find its own name won’t “play” anywhere in America, not even regionally? I, for one, don’t believe it.

“Midwestern optimism”

Yeah, that’s one name for it. The Bellevue News Democrat has an amusing story about the museum-naming circus. I don’t know how they got them, but they report some of the things people have been writing on their ballots. Among them: “All the names stink,” and “What was your focus group? A group of 5-year-olds?” But the funniest line was this one:

Jim Richerson, president of Peoria’s Lakeview Museum, an existing facility that will become part of the new museum, greets the chorus of boos with Midwestern optimism.

“I consider it a victory,” Richerson said. “The worst thing that could have happened is that we got no response.”

Uh-huh. That, or not getting the money to build it because of the terrible public opinion they’ve created. Optimism, indeed.

Not just HOI, but all Peoria stations to broadcast “town hall” on Peoria violence

In case you don’t read the comments section on Billy’s or my blogs, here’s the information on the upcoming “Target Peoria: An Open Discussion On Crime” television event.

Jonathan Ahl wrote:

I will be the moderator for this special program, broadcast on WMBD, WHOI, and WEEK from 8-9pm [Wednesday, Sept. 13]. WTVP will tape it and play it at 11pm.

The reason there are not a lot of details is that the organizers are still working them out. I feel pretty strongly that it will be an important hour and a good broadcast.

And on Billy’s site, Ahl added:

The idea for the meeting came from discussion between the GM’s at WEEK, WMBD, and WHOI. Those three worked with Ardis to get things moving. […] Mayor Ardis et al will have a Sunday press conference at 2pm to talk about it.

My thanks to Jonathan for the information.

Van Auken proposes higher fines for ordinance violations

In response to a couple of recent, over-the-top, raging parties around the Bradley area (well-reported by PeoriaIllinoisan), Second District Councilperson Barbara Van Auken is proposing raising the fines for noise violations and criminal activity to $1,000. She wrote in an e-mail to Uplands residents:

I want to update you on activities related to the riotous weekend you and your neighbors experienced. Uplands President Goitein has talked with Bradley Security Chief Baer who, in turn, is meeting with BU officials about what happened and why. I also spoke with VP Gary Anna who was very concerned about the events and promised to personally look into them. He is also supportive of […] hefty fines to property owners and party hosts. Additionally, Chief Settingsgaard is investigating the situation and plans to talk with Chief Baer about coordinating their efforts to put a halt to these raucous parties. He, too, is strongly supportive of the hefty fine suggestion.

I talked with both Randy Oliver and Randy Ray about fines to hosts and property owners. It cannot depend on how many calls we get about a party–one call is enough. If, in fact, there’s ordinance violations, e.g., noise, and/or criminal activity, e.g., underage drinking, at a party, I’m proposing a $1,000 fine for both the host(s) and the property owner if it’s owner-occupied. If the property owner is a landlord, I’m proposing that the individual–within 30 days– pay the $1,000 fine or present documentation to the Legal Department that eviction proceedings are in process or complete. While there are responsible landlords who almost never know about party activities at their property; once they know, they need to take immediate action–not just promise it won’t happen again. I’ve heard that too many times, and the problem goes on for months.

This is welcome news. I hope Van Auken’s proposal makes it to the council soon and is passed. There needs to be greater consequences for parties that involve “150 people fighting in the street” and require the use of pepperball guns to break them up.

I’m really starting to like WHOI

Lately, I’ve been more and more impressed with WHOI as a local news channel. I believe they usually come in last in the ratings, but I’ve noticed quite a few stories lately that they’ve covered better than WEEK and WMBD, in my opinion.

Now, they’re planning a one-hour, commercial-free special report on fighting crime in Peoria. That’s ambitious — and exciting! Here are the details from HOI’s website:

On Wednesday, September 13 HOI-19 will air a special report on fighting crime in Peoria. It’s called “Target Peoria: An Open Discussion On Crime.” It runs from 8 to 9 p.m., commercial free.

I can’t wait to see who they interview and what the format of the show will be. Kudos to WHOI’s news department!

City ignores service record; awards contract

See No EvilDespite its breach of contract and public endangerment, Central Illinois Railroad (CIRY) was rewarded Tuesday night with a fat no-bid contract to do some rail improvements along Allen Road. I’m guessing this “see no evil” approach is the city’s way of saying “thank you” to a company that has conspired with them to stop serving Carver Lumber via the Kellar Branch.

City staff had the audacity to defend CIRY’s record of service, insisting as they did before the Surface Transportation Board (STB) that CIRY has been delivering Carver’s shipments within two hours of when Union Pacific places the cars on the western spur. As Pioneer Industrial Railway (PIRY) ably argued in a letter to the STB yesterday rebutting the city’s claim:

While the [city’s] letter claims that the “records show” that CIRY made deliveries “no more than two hours after receiving the car from Union Pacific,” this is not what the records show. Even if we were to believe these belatedly-produced, unverified “records”, they show notification times, not UP delivery times. It is also a matter of fact in the record that Carver routinely has to notify CIRY of UP deliveries because CIRY has no local presence.

David Jordan explains how long it really takes CIRY to deliver shipments:

The fact is, Union Pacific’s “Peoria Wayfreight” works five days a week, Sunday thru Thursday beginning at 5:00pm. A trip up to Pioneer Jct. is usually the first job for the wayfreight, which does this on Mondays and Wednesdays. Basically, UP delivers to CIRY in the early evening, but CIRY’s crew does not work the Pioneer Jct. to Pioneer Park line until late morning or early afternoon the following day (if there are any cars). [Assuming] that CIRY receives notice from the UP the following morning that these cars have been delivered […] UP physically interchanges these cars to CIRY the prior evening and then some 18-20 hours later, CIRY delivers to Carver Lumber.

That’s assuming that CIRY receives notice from UP in a timely manner, which isn’t necessarily the case, as Pioneer points out that Carver has had to notify CIRY on occasion as well. But who cares if Carver is getting adequate service? Certainly not the city. To the city, Carver is not a business that provides 50 good-paying jobs plus property and sales taxes to the economy; rather, they’re just obstructionists standing in the way of a hiking/biking trail the Park District wants to build.

A review of some regional museums

Here are some interesting observations from other museums of the midwest:

  • Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal — Cincinnati’s old train station, Union Terminal, is now the home of three museums (Cincinnati History Museum, Museum of Natural History & Science, and Cinergy Children’s Museum), an Omnimax Theater, and the Cincinnati Historical Society Library. At first blush, this sounds very similar to what Peoria is planning, but there are a couple of differences. First, notice that the name “Cincinnati” plays prominently in the naming, even though it also covers the surrounding area. Secondly, “Union Terminal takes up an area of 287 acres” for its five distinct wings; Peoria’s museum square takes up an area of about 6.5 acres for its seven distinct wings, Caterpillar Visitor Center, and 4 acres of open space.
  • Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum — This reference/research facility and Presidential museum opened in 2004. It doesn’t mention Springfield in the name, but it does have a narrower scope than Peoria’s planned musuem. “The permanent exhibit is comprised of two ‘Journeys,’ two Theaters, a Treasures Gallery, Mrs. Lincoln’s Attic and Ask Mr. Lincoln totaling more than 40,000 sq. ft. of state-of-the-art exhibitry.” All of that 40,000 square feet is devoted to President Lincoln, and in addition to that space the library boasts “more than 12 million documents, books, and artifacts relating to all areas of Illinois history. This includes extensive collections of State of Illinois history; Civil War and, of course, the world renowned Henry Horner Lincoln collection. The Library is also heavily utilized for genealogical research.” Peoria, on the other hand, is planning to have about 70,000 square feet of exhibit space devoted to art, history, natural history, science and technology, African American history, IHSA, and other exhibits covering the whole region. Very little space, if any, is devoted to research or library services. In fact, the Peoria Public Library wasn’t even asked to have any part in the project.
  • The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis — Guess where this museum is located. That’s right, Indianapolis. Guess what kind of museum it is. Yep, a children’s museum. See how easy it is to figure out when the name is so descriptive? This museum is 433,500 square feet situated on 14 acres of land. It “houses 11 major galleries that explore the physical and natural sciences, history, world cultures and the arts.” That’s a little over 39,000 square feet (on average) for each gallery. It also opened in 1925 in a carriage house and didn’t get a new, dedicated building until 1976, after its success was established. Its new building is also four stories high. An 80,000-square-foot addition was built in 1988 at a cost of $16 million. In 2006 dollars (according to the CPI calculator from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis), that comes out to just under $27.4 million. In contrast, the 70,000-square-foot facility Peoria is building will cost $65 million to construct.

When you start comparing, you start wondering how Peoria can do an adequate job of exhibiting so many different disciplines with so little space. Either there’s just not that much interesting art/history/etc. in Peoria (or regionally, if you will), or else our $65 million museum will be insufficient to house it all from the outset. I fear the latter is true.

Wi-Fi proponents beware

In the Chicago Tribune today (free registration required):

About 90 percent of the free wireless broadband connections available at O’Hare International Airport are not true Wi-Fi hotspots and some could be traps laid by fraudsters, a computer security firm asserts.

Apparently, what some hackers do is go to the airport, log onto either a free or fee-based broadband connection with their laptop. “The hacker laptop then broadcasts the wireless signal as free Wi-Fi, hoping to lure travelers as they log online to read their e-mail, check their bank balances or otherwise catch up with work.”

If your laptop is set to automatically search for and connect to Wi-Fi, just turning on your computer could allow hackers could steal your info without you even knowing it. I wonder if anyone would try that here in Peoria once muni Wi-Fi is set up….

And for your breach of contract, have another $187,847

What do you do when a company exhibits questionable competence, endangers the citizens of Peoria, and breaches their contract with the city? If you’re the city of Peoria, you award them another contract for more work.

Just to recap: Central Illinois Railroad (CIRY) tried to fulfill their contractual obligations. Late last year they tried to take some lumber up the Kellar Branch to Carver Lumber Company. What many people don’t know is that the Kellar Branch includes a pretty steep hill where it climbs the bluff. CIRY was using a vehicle called a Trackmobile to haul the lumber up the hill. Trackmobiles are designed for moving train cars around in a train yard, not for hauling lumber uphill; they don’t have as much power as an engine. As a result, they lost traction and the train barrelled down the hill backwards at 30 mph through several grade crossings. That runaway train could have killed someone, but thankfully didn’t. After that, they never again attempted to use the Kellar Branch — in breach of their contract with the city.

Not only did the city not enforce that contract (to Carver Lumber’s detriment), but now they want to hire the same company — a company with questionable competence — to do some rail crossing work on Allen Road to the tune of $187,847.

There are several things wrong with this picture:

  1. It does not appear that the City got multiple quotes and this was the low bid. For such an expensive project, one would think they would have bid it out. If they did, they didn’t disclose that information to the council in the Request for Council Action.
  2. The experience the City has had with this company is not exemplary. As noted above, they have been in breach of contract and have endangered the lives of Peoria citizens by their gross negligence. Why should we trust them?
  3. The quote submitted is apparently not itemized. There is hardware as well as labor included in that number of $187,847. How much are they charging for labor? How much for parts? Shouldn’t we at least get an itemized quote? It could be that it is itemized on “Exhibit 2B” which is unfortunately not included in the material available online.
  4. Recently, this same company filed a non-itemized quote with the Surface Transportation Board claiming it would cost over $500,000 to bring the Kellar Branch up to operable working condition, yet Pioneer Industrial Railway submitted an itemized work order indicating it would only cost around $10,000. See my previous post on this issue for more details. Doesn’t this indicate to anyone that CIRY’s cost estimates at least have the potential of being inflated?

One other thing: this work is not being paid by the city, but by IDOT. Does IDOT know anything about the history of this company? Did they have any part in this choice? In fact, why isn’t IDOT doing this work themselves? IDOT’s Bureau of Railroads provided an estimate for track repair on the Kellar Branch back in 2000 (which was used by the city to try to prove repairs are too costly). If they can provide estimates and repair work, and if they’re footing the bill anyway, why is CIRY involved at all?

I certainly hope someone takes this off the consent agenda on Tuesday and asks city staff some hard questions about it.