How Galesburg pays to keep its downtown looking sharp

"A vibrant downtown is absolutely like having a healthy heart." That's how Phil Dickinson, chair of the Galesburg Downtown Council's Facade Committee, summed up why Galesburg has spent nearly two decades funding facade improvements downtown. Dickinson, Downtown Council board president Bob Bondi, and Steve Gugliotta, the city's director of community development, joined Galesburg's Morning News on Friday, Aug. 7, to explain how two separate grant programs work together to fund projects across downtown. They talked about: How the city's program and the Downtown Council's program differ, and how property owners can use both Where the money actually comes from, including a tax downtown property owners agreed to pay themselves The current facade work underway at the Weinberg Arcade building Decades of past projects, from the Bondi Building's restored 1928 doors to the Orange Cup Sidecar Why free downtown parking took 15 years to achieve What it will take to keep downtown Galesburg thriving over the next decade   Related story: The plan to keep downtown Galesburg thriving, and the grants behind it 🎧 Subscribe to Galesburg's Morning News: Apple Podcasts | Spotify