Why this local woman is leading a grassroots effort to 'save Pekin's history'

Debbi Montgomery of Pekin believes that, with the loss of old buildings downtown, the city has lost much of its history.

“We’ve lost the Carnegie library, the Pekin Daily Times building, and the radio station that used to be downtown,” she said. “We’ve lost so many historical buildings.”

Montgomery has been attending Tazewell County Board and Pekin City Council meetings, urging county and city officials to preserve two buildings that are slated for demolition: the Arcade Building on Capitol Street and the Tobin Building on Court Street. Tazewell County owns both buildings, which are both over a century old.

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Tazewell County Board Chairman David Zimmerman indicated he expects demolition on the buildings to take place late this winter or in the early spring.

“I do not believe the Tobin Building is salvageable and the Arcade Building would need to come down for a new building,” Zimmerman added.

Rallying Pekin residents

Montgomery had noticed that other Pekin residents were also opposed to having the buildings demolished and were expressing their opinions online. Last November, she created the “Save Pekin’s History” Facebook group as an online rallying point for like-minded individuals. Within the first week, Montgomery said, the group had over 100 members. As of Wednesday, the group had grown to 346 members.

“I'm not a complainer,” Montgomery said. "I said, ‘If we're going to complain, we’ve got to be doing something, too.”

In addition to group members attending County Board and City Council meetings to publicly state their opposition to demolishing the buildings, they have also been regularly emailing Tazewell County officials. Group members J.L. and Christina Olar exhorted the board to reconsider tearing the buildings down and replacing them with new structures.

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“When visiting cities like Galesburg and Galena, we can only be impressed with their commitment to establishing and maintaining a historical district of their cities that draws visitors and tourists, and sustains interesting and useful businesses,” the Olars wrote. “Pekin and Tazewell County can have that too. But it will require a long-term, permanent commitment, safeguarded by county and city ordinances, to invest in Pekin's old town, to promote business there, and to highlight and commemorate the old town's history with markers, plaques, and monuments.”

What's the next step?

Montgomery said she has also presented the county board with a petition signed by over 200 residents. The end result she is hoping for is that the county will decide against demolishing the Arcade and Tobin buildings and will instead apply American Rescue Plan stimulus money to refurbish downtown Pekin.

“We need something done with the riverfront, so they can spend money down there,” she said. “Maybe they could put in a floating dock so people have a place to go down there. They can also redo the sidewalks and put some brick in or something to make them look better. Or they can add some facade to some of the buildings downtown. There are a lot of different things they can do with that money.”

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In addition to demolishing the Arcade and Tobin buildings, the board is proposing to apply stimulus funds and county reserves for a new facility that will serve as a new courthouse or a court administrative building. 

Montgomery expressed concern that the construction means that two more historic buildings, the Tazewell County Courthouse and the Old Post Office on Elizabeth Street, could be scheduled for demolition in the future. But Zimmerman said the county has never planned to tear down either building.