Community builder

Mall, downtown focal points for economic development director

Sunday, September 16, 2007

By JOHN R. PULLIAM

The Register-Mail

GALESBURG - Although the city of Galesburg's first economic development director has only been on the job since August, he already is working on a number of specific projects, as well as casting an eye to the future.

With cleanup finally under way at the former O.T. Johnson property, many are wondering what type of development will be built in the highly-visible 100 block of East Main Street in downtown Galesburg. Cesar Suarez said much has to do with the vision the community has for downtown revitalization.

"When you talk about specific projects, then you start to see how things fit into the big picture," Suarez said. "Maybe there needs to be a housing component to downtown."

Suarez said a multi-story building, with some condos, would mean more downtown residents, which should translate into a greater number of downtown shoppers. That, in turn, bodes well for efforts to attract more retail to the central business district.

He said, however, if the decision is made to simply build a one-story office building, that would fall short, in his mind, of what is needed.

Another project on Suarez' plate is the Sandburg Mall. Now under new ownership, work is under way to attract more tenants to the mall, which fell on hard times in recent years.

"I'm specifically working with the Sandburg Mall," Suarez said. "How can we as a community and city help?"

Suarez said mall owner Mike Kohan will still take the lead in rejuvenating the regional, enclosed shopping center. But, he believes the city can lend a hand. Suarez said any new business needs to know it has a chance to succeed before it will locate in a community. That's one way he thinks the city can help the mall and downtown, in particular.

"It's all about doing your market studies," he said. "If you build something, is there a market for it? ... We're going to be producing a number of studies to reinvent, re-energize our city."

Suarez said downtown and the mall probably will need the city's help more than the new Seminary Square Shopping Center.

"I don't think they'd have as great a need for me as downtown and the mall," Suarez said of the new shopping complex. "Typically, that's already growing."

With the Wal-Mart Supercenter, which opened in July, and Menards, scheduled to open in the spring of 2008, Suarez said plenty of traffic should be generated to bring in other businesses.

Suarez said he could become involved indirectly with Seminary Square, however.

"Someone said to me recently they would like to see an Olive Garden here," he said. "Our desire it to attract the desired retailers to our city."

He said those retailers may want to open in the mall, maybe in Seminary Square or perhaps downtown.

"Our goal is to bring them here," he said, regardless of what part of town they build.

Community branding also plays into new retail, as well as a number of other projects. Suarez said that means putting all the community's needs and assets and packaging it for the market outside of Galesburg. One example could be attracting new housing - everything from senior housing, to houses for first-time homebuyers, to serving as a bedroom community for people now living and working in Peoria and the Quad Cities. Suarez said community branding could convince such individuals to move here - and commute to work - because of the quality of life.

"What we need to establish is that we could serve as a bedroom community," he said. "It's a strategy. I think we have to have a good foundation and we can use that to really grow the future of Galesburg."

Community branding includes convenience and variety of shopping; clean, safe streets; assurance that snow will be plowed in the winter, that fires will be put out, etc. Suarez said a baseline quality of life has to be established and maintained.

"We have that baseline quality of life that serves as a magnet for everything we do," he said. "Quality of life will serve as the strongest magnet."

Logistics Park Galesburg is another example of what Suarez will be working on.

"The logistics park is an example of building capacity for industrial recruitment," he said. Shovel-ready industrial space is vital, he said, as the economy shifts from manufacturing to distribution/transportation. "Logistics Park Galesburg is the answer to that."

Suarez also believes tourism will become increasingly important,

"We need to reinvent ourselves constantly," he said. "Possibly another museum, possibly a convention center. We can be a small convention draw for events of between 50 and 100 people. That would be a way to reinvent ourselves."

Suarez knows that as work begins on the 2008 budget, some items will come about slower than others.

"Obviously, we have very limited resources and a lot of needs," agreed City Manager Dane Bragg. "We really have to decide how we divvy up those resources to get the largest gains."

But, even limited resources fail to dampen the determination Suarez has to facilitate Galesburg's growth into a vibrant, growing community.

"It's not necessarily how soon we get there, it's the direction we're moving," he said.