The Levee District
- Details
- Published on Wednesday, 09 January 2013 12:54
- Written by Paul Gordon
New East Peoria downtown named The Levee District
After sifting through 264 possible names for the new East Peoria downtown then narrowing those to just six, the choice ended up being rather logical, Mayor Dave Mingus said.
Considering his city has for years relied on levees to keep flood waters from invading key parts of town, including downtown, commemorating that seemed important, the mayor said.
The new downtown will be named The Levee District.
For decades portions of East Peoria have relied heavily on levees to prevent flooding to key structures, including the various Caterpillar Inc. plants near the Illinois River and the creek running through town.
That is why the name that has been chosen for the city's new downtown area is "particularly fitting," said East Peoria Mayor Dave Mingus.
The name, The Levee District, was selected just before the end of the year from among 264 names submitted during a public contest that lasted about a year. Mingus said the submissions were narrowed to six and then a consensus of the City Council selected The Levee District as the name of the 88-acre site previous called the New Downtown.
That came after the name was tested with various groups and individuals to gauge reactions, the mayor said.
The City Council will officially acknowledge the name as well as the person who submitted, Don Taylor of East Peoria, at its Jan. 15 meeting.
"You know, levees have been protecting that area for many, many years, designed to prevent flooding in key areas of town. It really seemed like the most logical name," Mingus said.
After that a group of Bradley University art students developed the logo that will be used and placed on signage around the area.
"It was unbelievable the number of names that were submitted for this project. Some were obviously not right, but there were some really good ones. And a lot ofr people submitted multiple names. It was not an easy decision," Mingus said.
The city originally planned to call the area the Peoria Area Technology Park before deciding to allow the public make submissions. That also was before the area was to be dominated by retail.
The other finalists were:
- The EPICenter, with EPI referring to East Peoria Illinois
- EPIC (East Peoria Illinois City)
- The DEPOT (Downtown East Peoria of Today)
- The Renaissance Depot
- The Commons
"Any one of those would have been good, of course, but I think the Levee District was a favorite from early on," Mingus said.
The Levee District construction continues with the spring expected to be a busy time of new openings, including the new Target Supercenter, Gordmans and other new retail as well as the new Holiday Inn and a new Hometown Bank building and offices.
Later, the new Fondulac Library and new City Hall will be completed, as will a Caterpillar Inc. museum to honor the factories that once stood on the site and dominated East Peoria.
The first to open was the 150,000 square-foot Costco, which was completed and opened in November in time for holiday shopping.
The road work for The Levee District, including the roundabout that is meant to move traffic more smoothly around the area, was finished earlier in the fall.
Mingus said naming the Levee District is causing renewed excitement about the area, especially as the new stores are starting now to hire for their openings.
All told, there will be more than 500,000 square feet of new retail in the Levee District, including the 133,000 square-foot Target, the 50,000 square-foot Gorman's, and an 11,000 square-foot ULTA, a beauty products retailer.
There are two 25,000 square-foot retail spaces to be leased between Target and Gordman's.
Other committed tenants include Ross Dress For Less and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers.
Paul Gordon is editor of The Peorian. He can be reached at 692-7880 or editor@thepeorian.com
