Danville Alderman Dan Duncheon is wondering what the impact will be if the city council agrees to close a segment of Logan Avenue for Carle’s proposed new $70-million dollar medical campus…
[‘’If we close Logan Avenue where are those cars going to go? The obvious answer is Gilbert Street,’’ said Duncheon. ‘’If you drive Gilbert Street anytime between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. it’s as close to bumper-to-bumper as Danville has.’’]
Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. is concerned about the message it would send if the city council denies Carle’s request to close part of Logan….
[‘’It sets a horrible precedent for future developers if we tell someone ahead of time ‘yow, we’re going to work with you on this. We’re going to make it happen.’ And then we say, you know, it gets hot in the kitchen, and we say ‘no, we’re not going to do it now,’ said Williams. ‘’Think about that – if a store wanted to build, or a factory wanted to build – is our word good anymore? Because we just poo-pooed a $70-million dollar investment because people were concerned about traffic time.’’]
The Mayor added Carle has already spent over a million dollars securing some of the 106 parcels it needs for the development. The Central Illinois Land Bank, which is based in Danville, has been helping Carle secure the property.
Danville City Council members will vote later on whether to grant Carle’s request to close a small segment of Logan just north of North Street.
Carle wants to combine its existing medical clinics on North Vermilion and West Fairchild Streets into a new campus on Danville’s west side. It is a 17 acre site stretching from Robinson Street on the east to just west of Logan Avenue on the west…and from North Street on the south to Madison on the north.
