PEORIA, Ill. — The City of Peoria may have a way to solve the Peoria Civic Center’s money woes.
The Civic Center needs $47 million for capital improvements. It’s received $25 million from state of Illinois, but still needs $22 million for projects including a new ice plant, a way to potentially keep the Rivermen hockey team at Carver Arena.
The City issued $55 million in bonds in 2007 to expand the Peoria Civic Center. The debt from those bonds falls off in 2028, at about $6-7 million dollars a year.
Peoria City Manager Patrick Urich says the City could probably finance $20 million right now, just pay interest on that for six years, then pay it down over the next 14 years, to close the gap for the Civic Center.
“We’ve been able to come up with the numbers that make sense,” Urich says.
The Civic Center Authority’s full board meets on Thursday, and is expected to discuss the City’s plan.
City Council will further discuss the plan at their next meeting on Tuesday, February 28.
“The Authority could say no, the City Council could say no. And, the other key piece is that the Rivermen and the Peoria Civic Center have to negotiate a new lease,” Urich says.
Urich tells WMBD’s “The Greg and Dan Show”, if all the parties agree, a bond ordinance to finance $20 million for the Civic Center would then be on the March 14th City Council agenda.
