Ideas Sought For Urbana’s Lincoln Square
Entrance to Lincoln Square Mall in downtown Urbana. Wikimedia Commons
Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin is launching a process for the re-imagining of the nine-block Lincoln Square area downtown.
The downtown development includes downstate Illinois’ first indoor shopping mall, a hotel designed by noted Urbana architect Joseph Royer, and a city-owned parking lot. But the mall is under-utilized and will lose a major tenant, when Carle and its Health Alliance subsidiary moves offices to a new office complex at the I-57/Curtis Road Interchange later this year. And the hotel is closed and up for sale.
At Tuesday night’s Urbana City Council meeting, Mayor Marlin announced plans to ask the public for their ideas about the future of Lincoln Square this coming spring. Urbana’s Planning Manager Lorrie Pearson will be managing the public input process, which is expected to include outreach at various public events, as well as online.
Marlin talked about the public input process with Illinois Public Media’s Jim Meadows.
Links
- Urbana Landmark Hotel To Be Put Up For Auction
- Urbana Backs Away From Proposal For Landmark Hotel
- Prussing Hopes Council Gives Preliminary OK To Hotel Plan Revisions
- Developers Make Case For Renovating Urbana Landmark Hotel
- Urbana-Lincoln Hotel to Be Named Local Historic Landmark
- Lincoln Square Mall website