And since the referendum did not win by a strong margin, I think this tells us the museum will not be as popular as their supporters are claiming it to be. Peoria is a small, mid-western city and that's all. Perhaps a "Chicago-wannabe" but that's all. It is not a tourist destination and it never will be. Get over it.
The museum supporters and organizers rant on how people will travel for miles to be marveled at the Caterpillar Experience and the Riverfront Museum. They also predict how this museum will revitalize the downtown area. So basically, the John Q. Public family of 4 in Anytown, USA are sitting at their kitchen table. They are deciding on where to go for summer vacation. "Hawaii? Disneyworld? Yellowstone? I know, Peoria, IL. They have great museum." If the museum organizers and supporters actually believe something like this is going to happen, they are woefully naive. If so, I have a bridge in a large, eastern US city to sell them... or perhaps they'd be interested in some swamp land. If a museum is going to factor into someone's vacation, chances are they'll go to Chicago's museums or the Smithsonian in Washington DC.
I have trouble visualizing 360,000 museum and Cat Experience visitors per year. Here is what I did visualize about 7 years ago when the debate started about what to do with the old Sears block. First of all, the Shoppes of Grand Prairie would not have happened. The richest soil and best farmland in the world shot to hell. Since Peoria has some fetish about copying things from Chicago, perhaps continue with "Rivertower Center," a take off of Watertower Place. Build a 7-9 floor tower. I originally conceived underground parking, but did not factor in flooding concerns... oops. But on the street level, contain a grocery outlet and drug store to help facilitate people who live downtown. The drug store would even contain an old fashioned soda fountain. The other floors would host specialty retail shopping that you'd find at the Shoppes of Grand Prairie. Certain areas or even a floor or two could be allocated for a museum. The very top floor would be a fine dining restaurant with 360 degree view of the city (killer seats to have for fireworks). Also include an IMAX (with the dome screen) on one end of the block. And here's the kicker... all done by private investment (though I imagine the city would take care of some infrastructure needs).
My dream block is not perfect by any means. It doesn't fit 100% with the Heart of Peoria Plan as it doesn't contain any residential use. But if you want to revitalize downtown, if you want to create a regional draw, then this plan I believe is far superior to the one we now have for the old Sears block. But what is done is done and we have to move on the best we can. I hope for the sake of this community that these museum organizers are correct... because if not, it will be very tough times for Peoria.
