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T HE ENTERPRISE Your Complete Source For Plainfield News Since 1887
thursday, January 29, 2015
Volume 127 no. 26
enterprisepublications.com
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serving Will and Kendall counties
24 pages
Looking back and ahead Mayor gives State of the Village address By PaT SchageR
for the enterPrise
Village welcomes new businesses, downtown buildings get facelift The Opera House in downtown Plainfield is getting a major facelift and an addition to the original building. The prominent building once housing “The Clock Tower Restaurant” and “The Blue Goose Dance Hall” on the corner of Lockport and Illinois streets is just one of many downtown buildings being brought back thanks to a more robust economy, said Plainfield Village Planner Michael Garrigan.
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“WE ARE IN A RENAISSANCE PERIOD FOR DOWNTOWN, WITH MANY IDEAS BEING TALKED ABOUT NOW. THERE ARE PLENTY OF ‘NICHE’ BUSINESSES IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA THAT ARE DOING QUITE WELL, AND THERE IS PLENTY OF ROOM FOR UNIQUE RETAILERS,.” PlainFielD village PlanneR Michael gaRRigan
See The Full SToRy on Page 9
iMage couRteSy oF PlainFielD Planning DePaRtMent
inSiDe
artist Rendering of trolley barn building Future improvements.
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“It’s been quite a ride,” Plainfield Mayor Michael Collins said to enthusiastic applause during his 2014-2015 State of the Village address. Over 160 civic and business leaders and area Chamber of Commerce members attended the event Wednesday, Jan. 21, at the White Tail Country Club in Yorkville. The luncheon was hosted by the Plainfield Area Chamber of Commerce. Touching on the many major accomplishments during 2014, Collins began by saying he was starting on a positive Michael side by listing the many collinS PLAINFIELD MAYOR awards and recognitions MICHAEL COLLINS from various reporting groups around the country. “We are ranked 67 as one of the safest cities in the country in a national poll,” he said. “We are in fifth place for friendliness by the Illinois Healthiest Employer Finalist poll, and we received a ‘Magnet Status’ by Edward Hospital, the only one in Will County to have this honor,” Collins said. “Plainfield is a fabulous place to live.” Commercial renovations continue in the downtown area. Collins reported that the Trolley Barn restoration will
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