SAVOY — What do people want to see in Savoy’s new downtown?
“The number one request from our community is more restaurants and cafés,” said Marissa Siero, president and CEO of Downtown Development Group. “They’re also looking for a gathering space.”
These are just a couple of the findings from an ongoing survey and public engagement process being conducted by the group, which is working with the village of Savoy to develop roughly 3 acres at the northwest corner of U.S. 45/Dunlap Avenue and Church Street.
Local officials have said that the project is one piece of a larger, long-term initiative to create a downtown centered around this intersection.
Siero told The News-Gazette that the online survey, which was posted in early June, has netted “well over 500” responses from both Savoy and the surrounding area.
A link to the survey can be found on the group’s Facebook page. Siero said they’ve also worked with the village to post yard signs with QR codes around town to catch the eye of individuals who may not be on social media.
“Originally, we were only going to keep the survey open for a couple of weeks,” she said. “Because we are getting such fantastic feedback, we’re going to continue to keep the survey open probably until the end of the summer, so we’ll have it open until probably the beginning of September.”
Downtown Development Group shared on Facebook that, as of July 8, they had received over 500 responses. At that time, they found that 75 percent of respondents were residents of Savoy, and 96 percent wanted to see more restaurants and cafés in the area.
They also found that most respondents were interested in parks and green spaces, walking and biking paths, farmer’s markets, food festivals and holiday celebrations.
In addition to the survey, Downtown Development Group also held small focus groups both in person at Industrial Donut and virtually, with Siero saying these have been well-attended and “incredibly beneficial.”
When asked if any concerns have emerged during the engagement process, Siero said she was surprised to find that very few came up.
“I was really prepared to hear about noise complaints or, again, parking and safety and accessibility are really important to all of us,” she said. “But when we were kind of addressing concerns, it was more of, ‘Gosh, this is something we really want to see happen. How do we as a community keep advocating for this?’”
She said it’s been encouraging to see that their concept, so far, seems to be aligned with the desires of community members and business owners.
Siero said that the feedback they’ve received will be “critical” in creating project documents and is also helpful as the group applies for a Rebuild Downtowns and Main Streets Capital Grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
In addition to keeping the survey open for the time being, Siero said Downtown Development Group will likely do another round of focus groups. They also hope to work with the village to host events at the project site so people can “walk the lot”, envision the property’s future and be a part of the development process.
“We’re taking a space that everyone drives by and goes, ‘What’s that?’ or they don’t recognize it or they don’t engage with it yet, and we really want to activate that so people can start to imagine themselves there,” she said.
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