From planning to implementation

Imagine a vibrant town center that serves as a hub of cultural and social activity. There’s a beautiful, tree-lined roundabout and plaza in the middle of it all, with a water feature that serves as a splash pad for children on a summer day, and a nice spot to read a book or to catch up with friends. All the while, it dutifully purifies the town’s stormwater. A multimodal transportation hub makes getting to the heart of downtown convenient and safe. Attractive storefronts with a variety of retail options invite eager shoppers. Wide sidewalks fringed with unique plantings invite pedestrians to explore. A full-service convention center is only steps away. 

In 2000, the town of Normal dreamed it. Then they did it.

A downtown going downhill

In 1999, downtown Normal was like a lot of other downtowns across the country. It had lost its shine. Historic buildings were showing their years. Many were in a state of disrepair, having lacked investment for a decade or more. Some suffered in the hands of absentee owners. 

Marginal retail uses predominated. Smoke shops, tattoo parlors, piercing salons and a few restaurants primarily served the student population at Illinois State University, which is embedded in downtown. 

There was a lot of turnover. Long-established retailers were leaving for the east side, where new commercial development was enlarging Normal’s footprint with a combination of big box retailers and strip malls. Most non-student residents weren’t venturing downtown. 

“It was generally shabby,” said Mark Peterson, who served as Normal’s city manager for 30 years.

The turnaround plan 

The city council identified that the downtown needed an intervention and hired Farr Associates Architecture & Urban Design to codesign the downtown with the community. There were more than 60 public meetings – a herculean task in itself, but key to community buy-in, which was, at times, hard-fought. Farr Associates provided several options, ranging from modest in scope to ambitious. 

The council aligned on the need to be bold, approving an ambitious project, said Peterson, knowing that “the clean-up, paint-up, patch-up, fix-up was a short-term solution that would just delay the decline.” 

The Downtown Renewal Plan was adopted in July 2000. The town had no debt, which put it in a great financial position for a major undertaking. 

The town implemented a tax increment financing (TIF) district in 2003 to spur reinvestment, ultimately acquiring $297 million in funding from a mix of federal, state and local sources. The financing included nearly $85 million in bonded debt. 

Peterson recalls a conversation with Mayor Gary Funk, who said he’d staked his political career on a pay-as-you-go philosophy. The planning consultant in the room said, “No developer is going to come in with a hope and a prayer that this kind of development is going to take place. You’ve got to do that up front.” So, they did. 

Getting it done

Prioritizing projects was key, Peterson noted. “We completely removed almost all the streets and replaced all the underground utilities. Most of them were 50 to 100 years old. You know, it doesn’t make sense to build new stuff on top of a public infrastructure that’s falling apart. So, we bit that bullet, because we knew it would have to be done at some point.” 

Things got worse before they got better. “You couldn’t use the front door of a business,” Peterson said. 

He described an intensive effort for the city’s public relations director to visit businesses daily to check in and share updates. It was a strain, and a few businesses closed.

The Children’s Discovery Museum, which Normal owns and the museum operates in partnership with the town, was an early win that set the bar for development. The Marriott Convention Center was another milestone.

Engineer Wayne Aldrich was the downtown development director. He said that a plan is only as good as its implementation. “You have to have the vision, the leadership, and the fortitude to get things done,” he said. 

Aldrich emphasized the role of city staff and professional consultants in the implementation process. “Politicians can come and go, but staff stick it out,” he said. 

Virtually every significant project involved a public-private partnership. There were inducements for developers including TIF, façade grants, discounted parking and cash for operating. 

“The numbers have to work,” Peterson said. “That’s the bottom line. The cost of construction is much more in an urban area than in a cornfield.”

The impact

Mercy Davison was the city planner hired to undertake the project. She is currently Normal’s director of planning and zoning. 

“There are more people in Uptown than there have been in many, many decades. Property values are way up. Tax revenue is way up. It’s where people take visitors. Uptown is basically ‘the place to be’ – just as we had hoped,” she said.

Mayor Chris Koos, now serving his sixth term, said: “The initial plan led to many businesses locating in Uptown Normal and the construction of two hotels and a multimodal transportation center. The Amtrak station in Uptown Normal is one of the busiest stations in Illinois, second only to the station in Chicago. In 2025, Uptown Normal is the most visited area of the community, and the central business district continues to grow.”

Building on success

A quote on Normal’s website reads: “At the Town, we have long held to the tenet of ‘planning our work and working our plan.’ It’s the foundation of all we do.” 

It is clear that is true, and that Normal continues to take action. Mayor Koos highlighted the construction of an underpass, which will provide a safer connection to both sides of the railroad tracks for pedestrians, bicyclists and Amtrak passengers. Connecting the north and south plazas is expected to further enhance economic development, giving residents and visitors alike more reasons to head Uptown.  

Leah Wilson is the executive director of Kidzeum in downtown Springfield. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geography, with undergrad emphasis on Geographic Information Systems (GIS). She became interested in Normal’s revitalization after a visit to the Children’s Discovery Museum in Uptown.

This article appears in December 18-24, 2025.