The Block FAQs
What is The Block?
Who is involved in planning The Block?
What will the Peoria Riverfront Museum include?
What is the Caterpillar Experience?
Why is The Block called a “homegrown economic stimulus package”?
What educational benefits will The Block provide?
How many people will The Block draw?
How will The Block be funded?
What special benefit will Peoria County residents enjoy?
When will The Block be built?
What is The Block?
The Block is a planned center for the arts, education and entertainment to include the Peoria Riverfront Museum and the Caterpillar Experience on an eco-friendly campus. The site for the development is the former Sears block, a seven-acre downtown Peoria riverfront area bordered by Washington, Main, Water and Liberty streets. [Back to top]
Who is involved in planning The Block?
The Block is a collaboration of Caterpillar Inc., Heartland Foundation, Illinois High School Association, Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences, Peoria African American Hall of Fame Museum, Peoria Historical Society and Peoria Regional Museum Society. [Back to top]
What will the Peoria Riverfront Museum include?
The 81,000-square-foot Peoria Riverfront Museum will feature wide-ranging opportunities for learning, culture and fun, including a digital 3-D IMAX Theatre, state-of-the-art planetarium, Illinois River Encounter gallery, interesting and entertaining Peoria history, expansive art exhibits for all ages, children’s Discovery Worlds and the IHSA Peak Performance Center. [More] [Back to top]
What is the Caterpillar Experience?
The Caterpillar Experience, funded entirely by Caterpillar, will be a high-tech, interactive look at the company’s past, present and future. This 50,000-square-foot enterprise will welcome area employees, residents and visitors, including more than 25,000 visitors the company brings to our region every year. [More] [Back to top]
Why is The Block called a “homegrown economic stimulus package”?
Over a 25-month construction period, beginning in late 2009, The Block project would employ 250 to 300 workers per month and contribute $1.8 million in monthly labor payroll to our economy. Also, because of the strong private funding support for The Block, the positive return on the public investment would be very high, generating an estimated $572 million in total economic impact over 20 years. [More] [Back to top]
What educational benefits will The Block provide?
The Block will offer hands-on learning for people of all ages—and the ultimate field trip for school-age kids. Among its many opportunities will be: an interactive, behind-the-scenes look at Caterpillar’s past, present and future sure to enthrall adults and kids alike, five-stories-tall IMAX documentaries, cutting-edge planetarium shows, Discovery Worlds play-and-learn kids’ galleries, IHSA Peak Performance Center challenges for mind and body and Illinois River Encounter Science Lab experiments. Learning materials and classrooms will be available for teachers and young visitors. [More] [Back to top]
How many people will The Block draw?
Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences—just one of The Block’s seven collaborators—draws 110,000 visitors annually. The vastly expanded offerings at The Block would increase attendance exponentially.
Total average annual attendance for The Block is projected to be 360,000 visitors, including 240,000 who would visit both the Peoria Riverfront Museum and the Caterpillar Experience. Based on attendance in a similar market, the IMAX Theatre alone would draw 93,000 admissions annually—not counting combination admissions with the galleries and planetarium. [More] [Back to top]
How will The Block be funded?
The Block is a $136 million development. The $41 million Caterpillar Experience will be paid for entirely by Caterpillar but will be built only if the rest of The Block is fully funded.
The $71 million Peoria Riverfront Museum is being funded through private and public sources. More than 86% of private funding has been pledged, including $13.5 million from Caterpillar. The Museum Collaboration Group is seeking $35 million in public funding through a Peoria County sales tax increase of one-quarter of 1% (25¢ on a qualifying $100 retail purchase). Peoria County residents will have the opportunity to vote on this funding request in an April 7, 2009, referendum. [More] [Back to top]
What special benefit will Peoria County residents enjoy?
If the Peoria County sales tax referendum passes and The Block is built, Peoria County residents will enjoy a 15% discount on admission to the Peoria Riverfront Museum. [Back to top]
When will The Block be built?
If fully funded, The Block will break ground in late 2009, starting with the parking deck. Facilities construction would begin in 2010 with a target opening date of Fall 2012. [Back to top]