A historic commercial building in downtown Monmouth will undergo a major renovation.
The Monmouth city council approved a redevelopment and recapture agreement for the former Bankers Life building, 113 to 125 W. 1st Ave.
The building has storefronts on the first floor and apartments on the second floor. It was recently acquired by developer Tina Huston and is in need of significant repairs, including tuck pointing, a new roof, new windows, and a sprinkler system.
The city is contributing $350,000 in Tax Increment Financing funds and a local foundation is matching that for a forgivable loan of $700,000 for the $1 million renovation project.
City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher said if Huston sells the building within seven years, the $700,000 would have to be repaid.
“So it does create a long-term commitment of redeveloping and reoccupying the building,” Steinbrecher said. “It's a $1 million investment into one of the more significant commercial historic buildings that we have. So I think it's a major project for downtown, certainly one of the biggest that we've had in the TIF district.”
The nearly block-long building was once the Monmouth headquarters of Illinois Bankers Life Assurance Co., and is now divided up into individual tenant spaces.
Huston said the first-floor storefronts that are currently occupied – such as 1st Avenue Pub, Western Illinois Dreamers, and La Flor De Trigo Bakery – will remain open during renovations.
“We will do the downstairs in stages,” Huston said. “The upstairs we plan to renovate. Unfortunately, we’re going to have to do that all at once, and hopefully do that quickly.”
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