Downtown venues look for more residential help

The purpose in bringing the USS LST to Peoria was to increase downtown traffic and tourism. With the city failing to get the ship to move from Evansville, Ind., how will the downtown area fare?

“A downtown is a vital place,” Chris Setti, assistant city manager, said. “Our downtown is a vital place when it has a good mixture of a base economy.”

Ingredients in that mixture include Caterpillar Inc., the banking industry, the legal industry, the educational infrastructure, residential areas and a visitor’s economy.

A healthy downtown accomplishes two goals, Setti said. It offers people living in town somewhere to go and spend a day, afternoon, evening or night. Simultaneously, people who are visiting from outside the immediate area have something to do when not attending a conference at the Civic Center, a baseball game, etc.

The LST, which Peoria originally tried to obtain 10 years ago, was thought to be an added draw for downtown. Without it, though, Setti does not think the area is doomed.

Setti believes Peoria – with the Caterpillar visitor’s center, the Peoria Riverfront Museum, The Spirit of Peoria, the farmer’s market on Saturday, all the events, and the shops  ̶ including Running Central, which will be opening in a couple weeks – has a great downtown.

“The LST was an opportunity to add to that, but we will continue to make improvements to the programming, to the infrastructure, to the environment of our downtown through a variety of mechanisms,” Setti said.

One of those mechanisms is increasing the number of Peorians living downtown. Mayor Jim Ardis hears people frequently ask why there aren’t more people downtown. His answer is because not many people live there.

Building more residential opportunities in the warehouse district and other areas will bring more people to that section of Peoria. But that is not all that needs to be done. Grocery stores and other businesses need to be available to help residents live downtown.

The Mayor does not think any one business, amenity or attraction is going to make downtown successful. The key will be drawing on all that is available, he said.

Shelley Lenzini, owner and head chef at Rhythm Kitchen Music Café on Water Street, is certainly optimistic about what the area has to offer. She says downtown business has made a big leap forward in the past two years, with fresh ideas and the influx of a younger demographic.

“Especially my place,” Lenzini said. “It’s for families [and] it’s for anywhere from babies on up to 90 year-olds, and I think the whole riverfront offers a little bit of something for everyone. Age-wise and ethnic-wise there’s just a variety of things that are going on down here for everyone.”

That is not to say Lenzini considers downtown to be perfect. She would like to see more ethnic restaurants, which could lead to a great hub of international restaurants up and down Water Street, and further residential growth, which she said has been making progress.

David Remington, owner of Richards on Main, thinks there are upsides and downsides to having a downtown business. The positives are a good turnout at lunch due to all the workers in the area. The Civic Center, which is only a two minute walk away from Richards, also brings in good business before and after events.

On the opposite side of coin, there are the many days and nights when there is not an event downtown. Those nights can be difficult, Remington says. He has to pay attention to what is going on to keep the doors open.

Remington believes business is difficult for others in the area, such as a Jimmy Johns on Adams Street that opens at 10:30 a.m. and closes at 3 p.m.

“There’s a reason for that,” Remington said. “Downtown is kind of a barren area after the businesses close down for the day. There’s not a whole lot of reason to come down here. Plus, you got that perception of ‘downtown is expensive, there’s no parking [and] it’s dangerous.’”

Although he gets compliments on his restaurant, he says people tend not to think about places to eat downtown unless they need to go somewhere nearby or while attending an event.

Remington said he thinks the area needs more businesses and things to do. Improved parking would be good, as well. Food cart vendors, whom he said are supposed to park down by the Riverfront, often take parking places near Remington’s business, which has been an issue since Richards opened in 2001.

The closing of Sully’s Pub in December 2013 harmed Richards, too, Remington said. The pub created good foot traffic that brought a great deal of customers to both businesses. Customers have decreased since Sully’s went out of business, he said.

Another person who has been having trouble is Travis Mohlenbrink, owner of Cracked Pepper Catering and Bakery, which has locations on Northeast Adams Street and Main Street.

The Main Street location does good business, but there has been a slowdown in the amount of downtown employees coming in. This has resulted in the bakery going from serving breakfast and lunch to just the latter. He said the regulars Pepper has attracted since its opening a few years ago have given it enough business to justify staying open.

Mohlenbrink also owns Sugar Wood-Fire Bistro & Gourmet Treats on Adams Street, in the Warehouse District. The enormous success of the Bistro has been a pleasant surprise for Mohlenbrink. He thinks it takes drive, a lot of hard work, wonderful employees and a great product to do so well in that location.

The Cracked Pepper owner is certain that what has been happening downtown has not helped his businesses. He understands that things like construction are a necessary evil, but at the same time it has not been helping to generate traffic.

“It has been a hindrance more than a help, and really nothing else has happened in the last nine months since we’ve opened [Sugar] that would bring more traffic, more people into the area,” Mohlenbrink said.

Other businesses are in the same boat, Mohlenbrink believes. Some are hanging on to see what is going to happen. Mohlenbrink fears a few will not be able to withstand the amount of time it is taking for downtown to have a resurgence. He said he does not see the climate of downtown business turning around until more people take chances and open more businesses or the creation of more residencies.

Pat Sullivan, who has been working downtown since 1986 and is co-owner of Kelleher’s Irish Pub on Water Street, has a different view on the state of downtown. Namely, he has noticed a growth in the area over the years.

Sullivan has read many studies that support the idea that the downtown area can maintain more residents. He also owns apartments and condos downtown, and he has a waiting list for ones he is currently building.

“It’s showing that people want to live here,” Sullivan said. “When more people start living here, our retail will follow, and you’ll have a vibrant downtown. Are we big and vibrant right now? No, but we’re growing slow and steady, and that’s the best clip you can have.”