GALESBURG, Illinois — A Milwaukee-based company on Monday said it has leased approximately 300,000 square-foot of the former Maytag facility to Corteva Agriscience, a major American agricultural chemical and seed company.
Ken Springer, President of the Knox County Area Partnership in downtown Galesburg says it is part of a trend in his city.
"I think it is very important to prioritize infill development and adaptive re-use of underutilized buildings," Springer said. "No one wants to see empty buildings in their community. But by putting builldings back into productive use, our community not only improves the aesthetics, it also creates jobs and tax revenue. It's a win-win scenario."
Springer works at an old bank building that was converted to a YMCA and office in 2016. It's one of ten vacant buildings the city has filled in the last ten years, including a long-closed Walmart partitioned into several retail stores in 2018 and an old Aldi that found new life as a marijuana dispensary last year.
"It makes people feel better," said Mayor John Pritchard, who said he welcomes the growing tax base. "It’s a step-by-step process and low and behold after doing this for five or six years, all of a sudden you can say wow, we’ve had quite a number of things happen."
Rick Collins and his wife bought the old armory in downtown Galesburg last year. Workers could be seen there Wednesday preparing large trusses for a timberframe building going up in the Quad Cities soon.
"It’s a time-tested proven way to build structures that last centuries and centuries," Collins said.