A couple of days in Peoria, Illinois

Reaperducer · #1 Posted **Jan 9, 2009, 4:22 PM**

Last July I found myself in Peoria, Illinois. It's much like many other midwestern river towns -- one big company anchors the town (Caterpillar); the downtown was once vibrant, then died, and is now recovering; there's lots of great old architecture downtown; the tallest building is 29 stories; and the place is surrounded by nice churches and mediocre malls.

Here's some photos I took. More here: http://gallery.me.com/artefaqs#100177

House converted to an office

From what I read on the internet, this is a crack house. Shame.

Associated Bank Plaza

The Murray Baker Bridge

The Becker Building

The Bishop's House.

Caterpillar World Headquarters

The Cathedral of Saint Mary

The Christian Assembly Church

City Hall

Commerce Bank Building

The Cornerstone Building (former church used for banquets)

The Cursillo Renewal Center (Formerly a Catholic high school)

First United Methodist Church

First United Methodist Church Annex

The Hotel Père Marquette (this is where I stayed)

The Kickapoo Building. Now empty except for a dry cleaner

Peoria Civic Center

Peoria County Civil War Monument

World War I and II Monument

River Station. Formerly the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad Depot. Now a restaurant.

Sacred Heart Church (Fill light provided by the Peoria Civic Center)

The Twin Towers. Tallest buildings in town.

House.

10101000 · #2 Posted **Jan 9, 2009, 5:27 PM**

Beautiful!

Wheelingman04 · #3 Posted **Jan 10, 2009, 12:37 AM**

I have always been interested in Peoria.

dugdogmaster · #4 Posted **Jan 10, 2009, 1:32 AM**

Nice

. The Becker Building is rather unique

xzmattzx · #5 Posted **Jan 10, 2009, 1:45 AM**

Peoria looks pretty nice. I knew about those ugly twin towers and thought that Downtown was pretty dull and boring, but it turns out that there are quite a few nice buildings.

theWatusi · #6 Posted **Jan 10, 2009, 2:31 AM**

nice set

initiald · #7 Posted **Jan 10, 2009, 2:36 AM**

Nice photos. I haven't really heard of Peoria other than when their ECHL team would play the Charlotte Checkers.

flar · #8 Posted **Jan 10, 2009, 3:10 AM**

Great photos. I'd like to see a little more of Peoria.

LMich · #9 Posted **Jan 10, 2009, 7:45 AM**

Nice, nice photos!

Peoria seems to be about as quintessential Midwest as one can possibly get, so it's not a mistake where the phrase "will it play in Peoria?" came from.

What kind of camera do you use, BTW?

Jibba · #10 Posted **Jan 10, 2009, 7:54 AM**

Very nice-looking photographs. Peoria is pleasant enough, for whatever that sentiment is worth, depending on the perspective one wishes to interpret it from. Caterpillar's headquarters is appropriately brawny, but I wish they would have went with a more neutral hue. Although, I suppose the earthen-brown tone that it has can be justified critically for obvious reasons.

ColDayMan · #11 Posted **Jan 10, 2009, 7:54 AM**

Well done, sir.

kcexpress69 · #12 Posted **Jan 10, 2009, 3:45 PM**

Nice thread!! Peoria seems to be doing well, at least for the moment!!

stepper77 · #13 Posted **Jan 10, 2009, 4:36 PM**

Wow, Peoria has quite a collection of nice buildings and unexpectedly tall. Wonder what the city looks like from afar. Beautiful photos. Thanks!

Robert Pence · #14 Posted **Jan 10, 2009, 6:18 PM**

Beautiful images; I love the deep blue skies and rich colors.

My aunt lived in Peoria until 2004 and I visited there several times. The Illinois riverfront is worth exploring; on the west side of the river, to the south it's old industrial; parts of the old Avery factory that once built steam traction engines and farm machinery still stand, now occupied by Komatsu-Dresser.

To the north there are some very upscale residential areas and great overlooks on hills and bluffs high over the river. The Illinois River at Peoria is navigable, and there are locks and a dam and some large grain-handling facilities there. Sometimes at night you can see towboats working barges on the river, scanning the surface and shoreline with powerful searchlights.

I was in the River Station about 1980, when it was just an abandoned railroad station, with tagging and fallen plaster everywhere. It didn't even seem very safe to enter the building. They did an amazing job adapting it for use as a restaurant.

PEORIA · #15 Posted **Jan 14, 2009, 5:26 AM**

Original Rendering for proposed Marriott Hotel project....

14-story Marriott Hotel tower and new parking deck addition (below photo)

(above image from hotelpeoria.blogspot.com)

New Rendering of, revised and scaled-down, Marriott Hotel w/ Parking Deck addition and related News Link
(see below photo and news link)....

(above image from www.pjstar.com)

http://www.pjstar.com/news/x17737325...plans-unveiled

PEORIA · #16 Posted **Jan 14, 2009, 6:04 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by stepper77

Wow, Peoria has quite a collection of nice buildings and unexpectedly tall. Wonder what the city looks like from afar. Beautiful photos. Thanks!

Below are a couple skyline (day & night time) photos of Peoria from across the Illinois river in East Peoria....

(image from city-data.com)

(image from www.peomedsoc.org)

Kingofthehill · #17 Posted **Jan 14, 2009, 6:19 AM**

great building portraits.

stepper77 · #18 Posted **Jan 14, 2009, 6:08 PM**

The skyline is impressive from afar too. Thanks!

That new hotel looks nice...but it's a shame the older buildings there now are going to be razed for it. Plus, it looks like the whole side of the Hotel Père Marquette is going to go from a great view to no view.

VivaLFuego · #19 Posted **Jan 14, 2009, 7:39 PM**

Peoria feels very similar to Cedar Rapids.

DeBaliviere · #20 Posted **Jan 15, 2009, 10:22 PM**

I usually don't like twin towers - can't really explain why - but the ones in Peoria aren't so bad to me for some reason.