Peoria is on track to tear down a long-vacant former South Side market center, more than two years after originally approving the demolition.
The Peoria City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to spend up to $230,000 to raze the former Adams Supermarket in the 4100 block of Southwest Adams Street.
“It’s been an eyesore for a very, very long time. So it’s going to be just wonderful to see it flattened out,” said Mayor Rita Ali.
The council originally voted to clear the building in October 2024 before delays arose.
“At the time, we went through the demo process [and] while we were waiting the 30-day wait, the owner of the property came forward and said, ‘No, I’m going to fix it,’” said community development director Joe Dulin. “Then after about a year and a half of a court battle, where we clearly knew they were not going to fix it, we obtained the demo order.”
Dulin said the work is expected to begin within the next 30 days, under the approved contract with Rezzar Demolition. Costs will be covered with money from the Eagle View TIF [tax increment financing] Fund.
“It’s just good to finally see it go down because I don’t think the building has been used ever since it was that store many, many years ago,” said council member Denise Jackson, who represents the First District where the property is located. “I’m sure it’s ready to be torn down.”
Dulin pointed out the city has not yet formally taken ownership of the supermarket property.
“After we do this and spend the money, we’ll be filing a lien on the property and then pursuing a foreclosure to one day hopefully obtain the property and hopefully have some redevelopment in the future,” he said, noting the foreclosure process could take some time.
“As someone that grew up in that area, and I’m dating myself, but I remember going into that store,” said council member Bernice Gordon-Young. “It would be nice, even in the meantime, to see a green space there.”
Co-located police substation
The council also voted unanimously in adopting a development agreement for a co-located Peoria Police Department substation and Advanced Medical Transport ambulance facility on the city’s north side.
The project was already on track after the city finalized a letter of intent in July to pursue the shared space at the intersection of North Allen Road and Van Winkle Way, near an existing Carle Health facility.
City manager Patrick Urich told the council that the formal development agreement “outlines the responsibilities of AMT to design, build, and construct the police substation for the city,” while Peoria would be responsible for obtaining necessary construction approvals.
Additionally, while AMT remains the project’s master developer, the city will oversee design of the police substation. The agreement mandates a good-faith effort to have at least 10% of the work handled by minority-owned and women-owned businesses, and the property will be on two parcels with ownership of the land split between Peoria and AMT.
In pledging her support, Jackson said she’d like to see similar shared police and first responder facilities elsewhere.
“Public safety is one of the pillars of our strategic plan, and so often we hear about we hear complaints about safety in certain areas of town,” said Jackson. “With the reinvestment that’s going on in parts of Southtown, I think the city would show a lot of intentionality and concern for the entire community if we would do likewise in other parts of the city.”
Urich said the undersized existing police department substation in the Pioneer Industrial Park will be converted into a storage facility.
Other business
In separate items, the council unanimously approved an amendment to the development agreement for the MacArthur Flats senior housing project related to minor design changes, and a modification to the Rollingbrook Subdivision plat that will allow construction on two independently buildable lots.
Items approved as part of the consent agenda include:
- A two-year contract with A&A Security Group not to exceed $196,000 each year for armed security services at City Hall;
- An intergovernmental agreement with the Greater Peoria Sanitary District on a $141,000 project to clean and inspect selected sewer segments; and
- Selected vendors for the 2026-27 street maintenance materials to lock in pricing.
Additional action on potential updates to the city code addressing chronic nuisance properties was deferred until the Nov. 9 council meeting.
