Before the Sandburg Mall opened in 1976, this small college town of 32,000 had one of the healthiest Main Streets in western Illinois.
It was home to a Sears, J.C. Penney, Carson Pirie Scott and hundreds of other small and midsize independent stores.
But then things in this community made famous by Knox College and poet Carl Sandburg changed.
“In a period of a year, all of the department stores went out of business or moved to the mall,” said local businessman Jay Matson, who observed clothing stores, jewelry shops and pharmacies shut their doors and vacant turn-of-the-century buildings fall into disrepair. “We hit rock bottom as a downtown retail center.”
Today, Galesburg is back on top.
A battered 100-year-old three-story building that had been headed for the wrecking ball now houses an antique store. The crumbling 81-year-old beaux-arts Orpheum Theater has been restored to its original glory. The Swift and Co. meat processing plant, built in 1913, has been carved into a trendy restaurant. The once dilapidated Masonic Hall and the abandoned City Hall are now popular office buildings.
Galesburg officials attribute the revitalization to the partnership they formed with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the private, non-profit Washington agency chartered by Congress in 1949 to preserve America’s resources.
The National Trust’s Main Street Project was a response to small-town officials looking for help as their downtown and neighborhood shopping districts were being wiped out by competition from regional malls, booming commercial strips and major interstate highways.
For many communities that have joined Main Street, this concept appears to be the remedy for their problems. It is not only helping to revitalize commercial districts, it is being credited for reigniting community pride.
Chicago is one of the most recent cities to call on the National Trust for help. The city hopes Main Street can provide assistance to pump new life into neighborhoods that are struggling to maintain shopping districts. Starting next month, Main Street consultants will begin working with business leaders in South Chicago, Bridgeport and Portage Park.
“They have expertise we don’t have,” said Robert Kunze, assistant commissioner for the Chicago Department of Planning and Development, explaining why the city has signed a three-year, $250,000 contract with the Main Street Project. “We see them as an extension of our staff and as one more thing we can offer to our commercial areas.”
Galesburg served as a pilot for the program when it was launched in 1980.
Since 1980, some 42 states have adopted the Main Street concept, which is now operating in some 1,300 communities.
Of the 37 communities and cities that have joined the Illinois Main Street program, one-third are in the Chicago area, including Crystal Lake, Forest Park, Blue Island and St. Charles.
Those affiliated with the state program receive free assistance. Chicago pays a fee because the city has a contract with the National Trust, city officials said.
Once a community joins the program, Main Street officials offer technical assistance and training to the local officials and volunteers. Together, they draw up revitalization plans.
In 1978, Matson and several partners invested more than $1 million to purchase several shabby buildings on a rundown part of Seminary Street. Today, it is a popular shopping corridor, and Matson credits the Main Street program for giving them the advice to turn the area around.
“They told us to return the look of the street to the way it used to be,” Matson said. “Instead of putting up aluminum canopies or fancy modern awning, they told us to use old-fashion canvas. They advised us to have a unified paint scheme, so our color is green, and to promote ourselves as a group.”
Terry Tuline, a former salesman for a local factory, said Main Street helped him fulfill his dream to open up the Seminary Winery four years ago.
Main Street officials, he said, walked him through the business process. They helped him draw up a business plan, connected him with accountants and lenders, who provided him with low-interest financing.
Businessman Ross Stribling credits Main Street for sparking a change of attitude in Galesburg that encouraged elected officials and the community to focus on preserving historic buildings in the downtown area. This, he said, persuaded him to invest more than $1 million in a building that served as a home for pigeons. Now, it is the Galesburg Antique Mall, which specializes in art, fine furniture and collectibles.
“Without that change in attitude, this project could not have been done,” Stribling said.
The changes on these Main Streets do not occur overnight, officials stress.
“These small steps all add up to big results,” said Valecia Crisafulli, the coordinator of the Illinois Main Street program, which is headed by Lt. Gov. Bob Kustra. “It is not anything that is a magic formula. It is just people saying this is important to us.”
Illinois continues to be a leader in following the Main Street concept.
This summer, Libertyville won the agency’s 1997 Great American Main Street Award for the restoration efforts in the community despite the existence of five mega malls in the area, including the massive Gurnee Mills shopping complex.
As for Galesburg, it has become a popular destination for government officials, civic leaders and preservationists, who travel here to observe the turnaround and study the adaptable reuse of the historic properties.
Shoppers and tourists now flock to Main and side streets, like Seminary, Cherry and Mulberry. They stroll into From The Heart, a business that converts old fur coats into teddy bears, and Calico Cat, where shoppers fill their bags with Godiva Chocolates and products by Crabtree and Evelyn, and they dine in the Landmark Cafe and Creperie, which specializes in French cuisine, a rarity in this part of the state.
Some civic leaders said they turned to the National Trust for help because other programs failed.
“There have been programs in the past to deal with downtown issues, urban renewal being foremost, but the focus was to knock down structures, develop land and lure developers,” said Stephanie Redman, the program manager for technical services for the National Trust. “This did not work in urban areas or rural communities. Many have empty lots looking at them today.”
Main Street, however, is not without critics, limitations or flaws.
Some people believe the project is earning too much credit, that the economy is responsible for the turnaround. And Main Street’s reach, they said, doesn’t stretch beyond downtown or the heart of a shopping district.
But the Galesburg story is about more than buildings, civic leaders say. It is about a community. Main Street has helped revitalize community spirit.
“There has been a loss of community values and family values and one reason for that is it is hard to feel a sense of belonging to a regional mall,” Crisafulli said. “You feel a sense of pride when you drive through a downtown that is yours.”
