Downers Grove explores downtown's future

DOWNERS GROVE – Downtown Downers Grove is a drastically different place from what it was 20 years ago.

A collection of restaurants, shops and boutiques dot the landscape along Main Street, making it a desirable destination for shoppers as well as couples and families seeking entertainment options close to home.

More recently, apartments and condominiums have cropped up in the area – ideally located near the Metra station and other downtown attractions.

“Downtown has always been viewed both physically and emotionally as the heart of the community,” Mayor Martin Tully said.

Indeed, downtown hosts several major events throughout the year. The Summer Nights Classic Car Show, Rotary GroveFest, Independence Day Parade and Fine Arts Festival, along with a host of holiday festivities, are just some of the activities that occur along Main Street.

It wasn’t always that way.

The stretch of Main Street from Franklin Street to Maple Avenue simply was not the attraction it is today.

“At 5 p.m. every day, you rolled up the sidewalks, and that was the end of it,” said Willis Johnson, who began operating the Tivoli Theatre in 1978. “Downtowns were really struggling overall.”

Shopping malls and the advent of big-box stores made it tough for smaller businesses to compete, Johnson said.

“People didn’t even know who was down here,” said Linda Kunze, executive director of the Downers Grove Downtown Management Corporation, recalling the organization’s early days.

The organization was formed in 1997 to promote the development and expansion of downtown businesses and to increase valuation of property within the special service area. The management corporation is financially supported by the SSA.

SSA funding helped rebuild the 175-year-old infrastructure that was impeding downtown rejuvenation. Infrastructure upgrades included the addition of new streetscaping, landscaping, a 791-space parking deck and mixed-use development.

There’s little question the special service area has benefited downtown and its business owners.

“It absolutely has been beneficial,” Johnson said. “It gives the downtown a single voice when it comes to working with the village.”

Additionally, Johnson said, all property owners are included in the SSA, a model preferable to one in which owners volunteer to participate.

Today, the Downtown Management Corporation focuses on marketing and attracting both new and expanding businesses to the downtown district.

“We’re always reaching out,” Kunze said.

Downers Grove officials would like to keep the momentum of the last two decades going and plan ahead for the downtown’s future.

Both the tax increment financing district and the SSA that have funded downtown upgrades expire in 2020. Village officials must decide if one or both should be renewed.

“This is something that [requires] advance planning,” Tully said. “Let’s not wait until 2019.”

One reason officials want to get a jump start on planning is because ample time is needed to garner feedback from business and property owners, as well as the management corporation, Tully said.

“Engaging all the stakeholders is going to be key,” he said.

Those stakeholders include people who live in the downtown area – a rising number over the past several years.

“We didn’t have all the residents when we started,” Kunze said.

Some residents may offer perspectives that differ from business owners when it comes to renewing the SSA, she said.

Despite its rebirth over the past two decades, the downtown area still has needs, said Stan Popovich, the village's community development director.

Those needs include parking, infrastructure, marketing and event coordination. Village staff will prioritize and further examine those needs as planning moves forward, he said.