The Taylorville City Council is pushing forward with a planned $5 million renovation project downtown despite organized opposition and fears that disruptions caused by the work could decimate many businesses on the square.
The project is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2027. It is to be funded with a $3 million state grant first awarded in 2022 and from additional sales taxes collected in a business development district.
Even though a group calling itself the Taylorville Coalition for Responsible Revitalization says almost all owners of the affected properties want the project drastically changed to minimize the potential negative impact, the mayor and council remain behind the outline and so far have shown unanimous support.
“I am very shocked and surprised at the pushback,” Mayor Bruce Barry told Illinois Times.
Barry, 68, is in his third four-year term leading Taylorville, a city of 10,500 people that serves as the Christian County seat.
“The last thing we want to do is negatively affect the businesses, but I think they need to give us a chance,” he said.
Downtown business owner Cindy Frisina, president of Heartland Development Partners Inc., said there’s frustration in the local business community with the City Council’s lack of openness about its plans, unwillingness to consider alternatives and lack of justification for the extent of economic damage the project would cause.
She said downtown business owners formed the coalition, made up of more than a dozen participants, after securing support from 69 building and business owner signatures on a petition.
As currently designed, the project could “destroy a downtown economy” and potentially endanger dozens of jobs, she said.
“There has been no consideration so far for the irreversible financial harm to businesses as a result of this project undertaken with no business consideration or collaboration,” Frisina said. “Nor does there seem to even be consideration about the negative impact to city and state tax revenue, license fees, property values and property taxes.”
A critique of the project by Frisina’s company, which owns six buildings and three businesses on and around the square affected by the project, says downtown Taylorville’s economy is “materially different” from the one that existed when Taylorville applied for the grant in 2021.
Many new businesses that have opened since then, including Legendary Small Town Trading Co., depend on discretionary spending by customers who would be discouraged from coming to the square by the construction work, Heartland Development Partners’ report said.
There could be a 10% to 30% decline in city sales taxes during the 18-month construction period envisioned by the city for the project, or between $7 million and $21 million less in business activity and a loss of $194,000 to $582,000 in city sales taxes, according to coalition businesses.
A longer construction period, which business owners fear is possible, would only increase the losses and make further operations impossible for some businesses, the report said.
Tony Roth, 62, general manager of Legendary, which has 12 employees and operates as a restaurant, lounge and entertainment venue, said Legendary is “profitable with very little room to survive a 30% to 50% drop in consumer traffic” as it grows its customer base.
“It probably won’t survive 18 months or more of disruptions from the project,” he said.
Barry, who runs a city government with an annual budget of about $12 million, disputed the report’s forecasts and naysayers’ comments. “My goal is for everyone to thrive and prosper after this,” he said.
Frisina said members of the coalition met several weeks ago with officials from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to call for more “collaboration” with the city “and a course correction.”
DCEO spokesperson Eliza Glezer said: “DCEO remains committed to transparency, accountability and responsible stewardship of public funds. While community concerns are important, they fall within the jurisdiction of the city of Taylorville’s local governance and project-management responsibilities.”
To ease concerns, Barry recently formed an 11-member committee of citizens to serve on an advisory committee for the project.
The mayor said he doesn’t expect to see any major changes in the proposed work but believes the committee, whose members include Frisina and other building owners, including Gary Spurling and The Lock-Up Gym owner John Mollet, will help improve communication with the public and promote trust.
The project’s most controversial aspects include the replacement of “paver” sidewalks composed of different colors of brown brick that resemble puzzle pieces on the square surrounding the Christian County Courthouse. The sidewalks cost about $470,000 at the time, and half of the cost was covered by businesses on the square.
City officials say the sidewalks have become uneven over time, creating difficulties for pedestrians and accessibility issues connected with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
Many downtown business owners say the sidewalks are quaint and a draw for customers. They may require spot repairs but not a wholesale replacement with plain concrete sidewalks, coalition members say.
Critics of the project say the sidewalk replacement, coupled with the replacement of all water lines from businesses on the square to water mains on the street, is unnecessary. They say there’s been no study to justify the extent of work proposed and investigate other options. State officials didn’t require studies for the grant.
The coalition noted that findings from the city’s fiscal 2024 and 2025 audits cited weaknesses and deficiencies in the city’s ability to administer grants and keep track of finances, which increase the likelihood of future waste and abuse going undetected.
Barry said the audit findings are being addressed. And as for the water line issue, he said there’s been some leakage already from the 80-year-old lines on the square that had to be repaired.
He said a Jacksonville-based firm, Benton & Associates, which Taylorville uses exclusively for engineering advice, believes it would be most efficient to replace the water lines in their entirety. The same goes for the sidewalks, Barry said.
Critics have suggested Benton & Associates have a financial incentive to propose the most expansive renovations available. But Reginald Benton, chairperson of Benton’s board, said the firm has negotiated with the city a set fee for the work and not a percentage.
Mollet, 53, the gym owner, said the project “is going to be a disaster” for his 20,000-square-foot gym, which he said he operates “on a shoestring budget.”
Marilyn Spillman, a coalition member and owner of Emporium on Main Street, which sells antiques and collectibles, said her shop “can’t afford to be shut down” by construction. She said city officials “ignore us.”
City Council member Jim Olive, whose Ward 1 covers three sides of the square, said the criticisms are “a little bit blown out of proportion. There’s a small group of people making a lot of noise. Some store owners are for it.”
Roth said, however, “The coalition would argue that 69 of 71 identified building and property owners have signed in protest.”