Prosperous Future for Meadowview?
Mike Frey, The Daily Journal
Bourbonnais resident Linda Smith plays no official role in the planned redevelopment of the Meadowview Shopping Center in Kankakee.
But her grassroots effort should provide encouragement for the new owners of the site, Terraco Inc. and Frontline Real Estate Partners. The Illinois-based firms purchased the property late last year and plan a new look along with a new name -- The Shoppes of Meadowview.
Before the sale was complete, Smith started a petition drive to urge local business leaders to renovate what was once Kankakee County's retail hub. Her intentions were made clear in a story that ran in The Daily Journal last April. In the six months that passed after the story ran, she collected 1,800 signatures from people urging new life for Meadowview.
Smith admits she never presented the petitions to the new owners or anyone else, but the effort nonetheless indicates The Shoppes of Meadowview should do plenty of business. While Meadowview will likely never reclaim the distinction of being the county's retail hub from the stores in neighboring Bradley, it appears there's enough interest to make it a viable place once again. After all, 1,800 people can't be wrong.
