Making way for the Marriott
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- Published on Friday, 08 February 2013 16:12
- Written by Paul Gordon
A piece of Peoria history started coming down on Friday, making way for a new piece as downtown development kicked into a higher gear with the crunch of a Caterpillar Inc. excavator bucket.
The person most responsible for that new piece being developed got to deliver that crunch, smiling all the way.
The building that formerly housed Big Al's, a local gentlemen's club and strip bar that for decades sat next to the Hotel Pere Marquette, is not being demolish to make way for the Marriott Courtyard tower that will be constructed and connected to the Pere Marquette, which itself is undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation.
Gary Matthews, president of EM Properties of East Peoria, owner of the Pere Marquette and chief developer of the project that will cost more than $90 million total, got the honors of bringing the jaws of the excavator's shovel down on the canopy covering the entrance to the building, signifying the start of demolition.
"It's been a long time coming, but we're getting there. This is an exciting day," Matthews said to a pretty nice sized crowd that gathered for the event on the cold morning as snow started to spit through the air.
Dignitaries and civic leaders were among the crowd, including Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis, State Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, State Rep. Jehan Gordon, D-Peoria and others. All cheered when the canopy came down, including Al Zuccarini, former owner of that building who built a new Big Al's a few blocks away, opening it near the end of 2012.
Matthews and Zuccarini clasped hands after Matthews alit from the excavator, each looking like a proud new daddy.
Matthews said demolition of the remaining buildings along the block of Main Street next to the Pere Marquette will take two to three weeks to complete. Any asbestos abatement that was necessary has already been done, he said.
After that, construction of the tower that will become the Marriott Courtyard will begin and take up to a year to complete.
Renovation of the Pere Marquette, which has been ongoing for months, is expected to be finished and the building reopened by the end of April, Matthews said. "That's what we're shooting for, barring any unforeseen problems," he said.
Renovation of that building was slowed when it was discovered there was much more asbestos in the basement to be abated than was originally thought.
Matthews gutted the Pere Marquette's electrical and plumbing systems. Each room was renovated and updated, including the historical presidential suite that has slept many a dignitary, including presidents and performers through the years.
Because a new front desk will be established at ground level that will accommodate the Pere Marquette and new Marriott, Matthews removed the previous second floor desk and opened it up as a new entrance into the building's Cotillion Ballroom. It will be entered now from the grand marble stairwell the ascends from the Main Street entrance.
Finished already is the new parking deck that will serve both hotels. It isn't open yet, however. The front part of that deck will house restaurants and retailers.
Sometime this spring construction will begin on the million-dollar walkway that will connect to two hotels to the Peoria Civic Center, giving that facility a true convention hotel setup since guests will be able to go between the structures without going outside.
It is that type of hotel that Civic Center officials have wanted for years because convention planners more and more insist upon such accommodations before they will even consider any location for their event. Among those officials at the event on Friday were Jim Wetherington, current Civic Center general manager, and his immediate predecessors Debbie Ritschel and Don Welch. Welch now is president of the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Completion of this project, they believe, will lead to large and more prestigious conventions and trade shows for the local Civic Center. "This is going to be very important to the Civic Center and to the entire area," said Dan Silverthorn, chairman of the Civic Center Authority who also stood by on Friday. "For this, I don't mind standing out here in the cold today."
