PEORIA, Ill. – The Peoria Housing Authority is, in a sense, taking the lead on the future of the land in and around where Harrison and McKinley Schools.
They’re part of an effort with both the city and the Peoria Area Association of Realtors that’s in the planning stages of what to do with the land the two schools sat on, but also the areas around them where other demolitions have taken place.
“What we’re looking to do is spark neighborhood revitalization,” said Armeca Crawford, Executive Director, PHA. “We want to bring to the neighborhood more than just rehabbed rooftops, or demolition and new rooftops. What we’re looking to do is expand the neighborhood. We want to take care of the people, take care of the existing residents.”
Crawford says her agency has the lions share of the land around Harrison.
Based in part on a report from the Peoria-Area Association of Realtors, Mayor Rita Ali says a grant is being applied for that might end up resulting in new and affordable housing in the area where McKinley School once sat.
“Habitat for Humanity is actually looking at that space where that school was, for possible home ownership, single-family homes,” said Ali.
She thinks that might be a good fit.
“It makes sense, because there’s that demolition, so we have that cleared space there that could be used for housing,” said Ali. “There’s other demolition that has taken place in those blocks around McKinley School. It really has good potential for single-family homes with Habitat.”
The PAAR study was done by the Counselors of Real Estate Consulting Corps, which had been working on the report since coming to Peoria last October.
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