Pubdate: Sat, 16 Apr 2005
Source: Rockford Register Star (IL)
Website: (http://www.rrstar.com/http://www.rrstar.com/
Copyright: 2005 Rockford Register Star
Contact: http://www.rrstar.com/ezaccess/contactus/lettertotheeditor.shtml
Website: http://www.rrstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/370

SIGNS OF NEW LIFE ON SEVENTH STREET

The hookers and the winos and the bums are being pushed aside by chocolate 
shops, bagel shops and makeup manufacturers. With a new federal historic 
designation, the revitalization of Rockford's Seventh Street promises to 
continue.

The National Park Service has added the street's commercial district to its 
National Register of Historic Places. Seventh Street is among the largest 
of 24 areas in Rockford on the register. The status brings eligibility for 
federal grants and a 20 percent federal income tax credit, among other 
benefits.

Already, five redevelopment projects are under way. Among them: The Mid 
Town District Association is building loft housing and commercial and 
retail space; Zion Development Corp. is putting up seven condominiums; and 
Colorlab Cosmetics is expanding.

Other signs of growth in the last year include the opening of an upscale 
Belgian chocolate shop called Leonidas and the new Rockford Bread and Bagel 
Co., owned by Rockford Ald. Jeff Holt, D-11. Holt's ward includes the Mid 
Town District and Seventh Street.

We prefer these projects to the headlines a decade ago, when the area 
seemed to be fighting a losing battle with drug traffickers, prostitutes 
and other criminals. The turnaround began in earnest five years ago, with 
the renovation of an 89-year-old train depot into a neighborhood resource 
center for economic development. Bill Mohr, executive director of Mid Town 
then and now, described his motto:

When you turn the lights on, the cockroaches scatter.

They are going to scatter even more in a historic district. Good luck.
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MAP posted-by: Beth