My article from September of last year was titled “A Vision for the Future,” and it was about the City’s decision to acquire the 1,000-acre Lutticken property. One year later, I am happy to change that title to “A Vision Coming to Life” and to update the community on how far we have come with this project in just 12 months.

Firstly, the City is the official owner of the Lutticken property, which adds about 10% to the geographic size of Pekin. The City paid $2 million last year and originally planned to finish the purchase in installments over 3 more years to spread the cost out over multiple budget cycles. With this more immediate purchase, we secured a loan for the rest of the purchase price to avoid slowing any road projects or putting off any major equipment replacements. This purchase was made from the City’s General Fund, and it had nothing to do with sewer or garbage service fees.

The City decided to finish the purchase now because of a once in a generation development opportunity that came to us earlier this year. The technology park that is proposed for the north end of the property along Highway 98 is under contract to purchase 321 acres at the same purchase price per acre that the City paid. The developer intends to build a campus of modern, high-tech buildings over 3-5 years once they get through engineering with Ameren. The revenue from the sale will go directly towards paying down the loan, and the new campus of buildings will generate an estimated $20 million annually in new property taxes. This development is not near Lutticken Lake and will have little to no impact on the neighborhoods currently on the lake.

In addition to the technology park, the City has also hosted a visit from a residential developer who is very interested in building up to 2,000 homes on the remainder of the available property. The developer would be responsible for the master planning and horizontal development of the property (site preparation, stormwater, utilities, etc.), and they would sell lots to home builders that would build in phases. City staff will be meeting next month with the developer and the first home builder they are talking with about 1,500 homes.

Finally, the City has made significant progress on the engineering for the Veterans Drive extension through the Lutticken property and ultimately up to I-474. IDOT has already platted the area for the interchange, and they have given the City the first approval to continue. The City also engaged in a value engineering exercise where a third-party engineering firm reviewed the preliminary design for areas where there could be cost-savings to the project. While not all of the recommendations may make sense in final design, the presentation showed $5 million in estimated savings. As we move forward in planning this major infrastructure project, we all should remember it’s not just about building a road. It’s an economic development strategy to bring more opportunity to Pekin.

A quote attributed to Henry Ford speaks to this project well: “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” The City has real problems, but we can’t pretend doing what we have always done will change anything about them. We have to be bold and find new solutions, new strategies, new ways of bringing success to the community, and that’s what we are doing. 

September 3 Taste of Pekin

September 3-7 Marigold Festival

September 11 Daddy-Daughter Dance… 90s Style!

September 13 Sand Volleyball Tournament Fundraiser

September 18 Mother-Son Dance…Back to the 90s!

September 20 Sports Cards n’ Collector’s Show

October 3 Witches Walk

October 10 Artistic Community Theater Ghost Walks

October 18 Downtown Trick or Treat

November 28 Small Business Saturday

December 5 Christmas on Court

Visit DiscoverPekin.com to see more awesome community events!