Plaques complete Central Plaza

It was in late 2004 that members of the Du Quoin Tourism Commission purposed the Central Plaza, a place which we hoped would be a catalyst for a beautiful and redeveloped Main Street that would bring new life and hopefully new businesses to downtown Du Quoin. We envisioned a scenic streetscape that passengers on the train would see as they went by and possibly want to return and visit at some point. We wanted to believe that anyone visiting Du Quoin would feel the same as we do when visiting another town and that is, how much we appreciate a city that takes pride in their downtown and their effort to keep their history alive.

With donations we were able to acquire the plans, to be used for an area in and around the railroad tracks. As with most major projects in small communities, it has to be done in stages, because of the financial burden. John Croessman was the coiner of the name Central Plaza as he and I were discussing the project. We were in the early stages of drawing up the plans, when it was announced that the Marshall Browning Hospital was to be razed. I approached Kathy West, a hospital board member about preserving some of the balustrades from the top of the hospital. The board agreed and the Bill Mathis family carefully removed and saved 51 balustrades for us. 49 were used in the wall, one was broken during storage and one is cracked and will be used for a pattern, if needed.

Virtually everyone has a connection to the Marshall Browning Hospital, so saving and reusing part of that original building becomes a memorable tribute to an important part of Du Quoin since 1919.

It's taken 10 years and much support from our city administrations, the TIF program (which help with loans and funding to redevelop Du Quoin), Tourism and Historic Preservation. We now have new sidewalks, newly paved streets, crosswalks, trees and a small seating area with a beautiful clock and drinking fountain for all to enjoy. We are starting to see the plan come to life more recently with new businesses like the St. Nicholas Brewing Company, Baked by Gene & The Green Mountain Meat Market and the newly renovated buildings of Doc Z's, Kabinet House, Alongi's Italian Restaurant drive thru & office and others. We hope this is the beginning of the revitalization of downtown Du Quoin.

We are fortunate to have one of the more enviable and intact downtowns in Southern Illinois. We will continue to preserve and enhance our Main Street district under Mayor Guy Alongi and the new city administration, as we have with past leaders.

Judy Smid, President

Du Quoin Tourism Commission

Credits:

Tourism Commission members (past & present), Historic Preservation members, White & Borgognoni Architects, Kathy West - MBH board member, Marshall Browning Hospital Board members, Pam Logan - MBH Director of Marketing, The Bill Mathis Family, Mayor John Rednour, Mayor Rex Duncan, Brad Myers, Jeff Ashauer, Doug Hill and the street dept. workers, John Croessman, Brent Crews Masonry and Bob & Theresa Markotay of Elessar Electric.

We appreciate everyone involved with this project and if I have overlooked someone, it was not my intent.

List of Donations from the following: (All of these donations were received in 2005 with the exception of the Perry County Senior Citizens Club and were used toward the purchase of plans for the Central Plaza.)

M&M Insurance Agency, Inc. Casey's General Store-2-Du Quoin

Maxton Funeral Home Du Quoin Domestic Science Club

Mathis & Sons, Inc. Koerner & Sons

Technicolor Universal Emling & Hoffman CPA's

Ram Telecom Fraternal Order of Eagles, Du Quoin Aerie #779

Searby Funeral Homes Genesio Refrigeration Service, Inc.

Dr. Manu & Mrs. Vipapan Tongwarin Kellerman Radiator Service

Du Quoin State Bank John Rednour

Du Quoin Garden Club Associated Lumber-Du Quoin

Larry's Pit BBQ American Legion Post 647

Sam Easterly Du Quoin Jaycees

Craig W. Furry, MD

Southern Illinois Movers

Banterra Bank

Filson Appraisal Service

Hicks Oils-Industrial Division

Francies Inn

Edward Jones Investments-Lisa Emling

Richard L. Weinberg, DMD

Aaron A. Atkins, Attorney at Law

Perry County Senior Citizens Club, Inc. (Received from Fern Waidzulis when this organization dissolved in 2010)