Video: Peru mayoral candidate Harl talks about downtown development, Route 251 shopping district

Incumbent Harl’s opponent Ken Kolowski declines interview

Asked about the future development of the city’s downtown, Mayor Scott Harl believes the city has made some recent improvements to help its growth.

The city bought many buildings in the downtown not up to code and have helped transform them into usable storefronts, and in some cases upstairs apartments.

These additions and renovations have brought businesses, such as Stone Jug Barbecue and Stewart Tax and Accounting to downtown, along with additional parking and beautified areas, Harl said.

“Our parking lot isn’t just a parking lot,” Harl said. “Our idea was to build it so that it was pleasant to look at and it gives you a little park type atmosphere in your downtown while also having much needed parking spots in our downtown.”

With Election Day a week away, the NewsTribune invited the incumbent Harl and challenger Ken Kolowski to take part in an online forum to answer roughly 10 questions about city topics. Harl met with news editor Derek Barichello and reporter Jayce Eustice, while Kolowski declined the opportunity, which was made available to him over the course of several days.

The two mayoral candidates met for a debate March 20 at the Peru Public Library. In that forum, Peru residents provided the questions to candidates. The NewsTribune supplied the questions when meeting with Harl. The library forum may be viewed at https://www.facebook.com/Peru-Public-Library-Illinois-129555637100826

After speaking with developers both local and foreign, Harl said new businesses and developers want to be where the people are and in Peru’s case most businesses are located on the north end of town on Route 251 and close to Interstate 80.

“Some of our surrounding cities have a vibrant downtown and have done a fantastic job and my hat is off to them,” Harl said. “In Peru, we have more action up north, which isn’t in downtown.”

Harl and city officials are looking into bringing another senior living facility into the downtown area, he said. He mentioned the developers of these facilities look at Peru as a great place to build for seniors because of the centralized location of amenities.

When asked about the future of Peru Mall and the Route 251 shopping district, Harl talked about the influence of Amazon on chain stores.

“Some of them, you’ll never get them back into shopping in-person and my thoughts are most of them you probably will,” Harl said. “People like to shop, knowing what we’ve been going through for over a year, it’s made it even more difficult to go out and shop.”

While it may take some time, Harl is hopeful the mall will bounce back but is also aware that if it doesn’t, it is too valuable of a property to just let it sit unoccupied.

Harl said the Peru Mall is owned by an independent company and he could see some rebranding and changes to the location that may help bring businesses and additional shoppers to the area.

The mayor said Peru is in good financial standing.

“When I came into the city of Peru, it was in great financial shape, there was a good base there to build off of and we grew and challenged people and we put economic development high on our list,” Harl said. “We went out seeking new business in Peru and our business district has grown quite a bit.”

Harl said municipalities need to continue to grow in order to maintain their residents’ lifestyles and keep up with everyday cost of living adjustments. According to Harl, the city has been aggressive in attracting retail, commercial and industry business to Peru during his tenure in office.

Go to www.newstrib.com to view the entirety of the interview with incumbent candidate Harl.