$50K project part of larger effort to revitalize South Main Street Corridor

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — A new $50,000 grant to the Ethnic Heritage Museum is part of a broader effort to revitalize Rockford’s South Main Street corridor.

The funding will be used to fund restoration work on the campus, which houses the historic limestone Graham-Ginestra house, at 1129 S Main. The barn, carriage house, and stables will undergo renovations to include additional exhibit space and space for public events.

The project will be the latest of several slated to rehabilitate one of the city’s oldest thoroughfares, which connects U.S. Bypass 20, to the south, with downtown.

Fifth Ward Alderwoman Gabrielle Torina said, “Obviously Barber Colman [the Colman Yards project ], that’s the first one; the Water Power Lofts , which is at 700 South Main. You’re seeing the expansion today of the Essex Heritage Museum, the South Main Mercato . First year [attendance for the Mercado] was about 500 people. The second year, 5000. That’s quite a big jump. So that alone has to tell you that a mindset is changing about coming to Southwest Rockford.”

In addition, the Illinois Department of Transportation will be holding public meetings this month to share plans to restart passenger rail service between Chicago and Rockford , with a proposed station on S. Main Street. The meeting will be held at Veterans Memorial Hall at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, September 10th.

Sandra Colbert, Director of the Lithuanian Gallery at the Ethnic Heritage Museum, said the projects have revitalized the entire community.

“I could see the change in the area. I could see the change in the people’s attitudes. It’s just a great time to be on South Main. You could see new developments encroaching farther and farther and really improving the neighborhood, improving the outlook for the people that live here,” she said.

“I think hope is being reestablished again in the people that live in Southwest Rockford. Things are actually happening, like the completion of project funding. Shovels have hit the ground. So people’s attitudes are changing because they’re seeing things,” Torina said. “Action is being finally taken. They’re not just hearing lip service, they’re actually seeing things really come to fruition. So it means everything to us,”

Torina said she hopes the new developments will spur growth in restaurants and other attractions.

The grant money for the Ethnic Heritage Museum comes from $1.64 Rebuild Illinois funding which is being distributed to nonprofits including the Coronado Performing Arts Center, the YMCA of Rock River Valley, the former Grand Hotel supportive housing facility on Broadway, and Zion Development, for a Strong Neighborhood House in Machesney Park.

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