ABOVE: Local officials are hoping to obtain Congressional spending to get going on flood remediation efforts along East Voorhees, including the Quaker Oats property and the old Heatcraft plant property.
Area representatives have returned from a lobbying trip to Washington, D.C; where the major focus was getting things done to bring new business and industry to East Voorhees. Since the closing of the Quaker Oats plant, there has been talk of combining that property with the adjacent former Heatcraft plant property.
First, however, about $2.5 to $3 million dollars in flood remediation work needs to be done. And the hope is to cover the initial $1 million of that expense with some Congressionally directed spending through U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth’s office. The party on this trip to the nation’s capital, which included Danville’s Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr and Vermilion Advantage CEO Mike Marron, met with Duckworth; as well as U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and Congresswoman Robin Kelly; to discuss this further. Marron says it may take time to obtain this federal funding, but they’ve made “the first cut.”
AUDIO: Because that’s going to be a prerequisite to any redevelopment projects out there. That’s something that has to get done. And so, that’s a priority; to make those partials viable again for redevelopment.
(1st Picture) Vermilion Advantage CEO Mike Marron. (2nd Picture) Danville’s Mayor Rickey William, Jr.
Marron cautions that the whole redevelopment process, let alone getting some help from Washington for the flooding remediation, will take time. But he says visiting the capital in person was a great start.
AUDIO: You know, we have to crawl before we can walk unfortunately. That’s why it was so important to go to Washington; is because we need to put a face with the name, right? We need to have a presence there, so that they know we are serioius.
Danville’s Mayor Williams agreed, saying that the good thing is people are getting behind what Danville is trying to do, including nearby federal lawmakers
AUDIO: We’re worked with a lot of the Illinois legislators, who are in our surrounding areas too, to try get them on board. And they intend to provide letters of support as we move forward as well. So I think having seen us in person made a huge difference. Because they see that we’re serious, that we have a plan; and that we just need some assistance to bring those plans to fruition.
Quaker Oats announced their closing this past spring; Heatcraft announced their closing in fall of 2021.
