The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity is awarding a $950,000 grant to the City of Peoria through its Illinois Rebuild: Shovel Ready program to help fund rehabilitation of the former Tabor property on the city's South Side.
Joe Dulin, the city's assistant director of community development, said without the funding, the renovation project would not have been possible.
"Any time we can get outside funding to help fund these things so it's not coming from local tax dollars, especially in the 61605 (ZIP])code, hopefully over the next few years with this process developed, we can create some living wage jobs for the people of the area," Dulin said.
First District councilwoman Denise Moore said the state grant will be used in conjunction with the $500,000 grant the city received from the U.S. EPA's Brownfield Program last year to clean up the contaminated property, and prepare it for new development.
"This grant has been something that we've been working on for a number of years," Moore said. "We've been trying to bring some life back to what is called the Southern Gateway. So this is really a spark that is going to ignite, now, this part of the South Side."
The city plans to demolish a small building on the Tabor property, 3540-3600 SW Adams, and make repairs to a larger commercial building on the site, in addition to soil remediation. The property lies in a Qualified Opportunity Zone.
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