Will flowers help East Grand business bloom in Gurnee?

The Gurnee village board will decide Monday whether using public funds to plant flowers on private land along the East Grand Avenue corridor now will lead to more private investment in the future.

The plan calls for spending about $100,000 installing flowers and plants along East Grand from Magnolia Avenue to Boulevard View Street. The landscaping will sit beyond the sidewalk as protection from salt and other road debris that could kill it.

Ellen Dean, the village's economic development director, said she hopes the landscaping can harvest goodwill - and eventually upgrades - from business owners.

"Because development and construction is a long-term play and not something the village generally controls, we have to find ways we can be a catalyst in areas we can control," Dean said. "Hopefully property owners are motivated."

With its mix of empty storefronts, thrift shops, nonstandard sign heights and overhead power lines, East Grand Avenue has been a contrast to the more thriving sections of Gurnee west of the Tri-State Tollway.

Tim Ammons, a manager of the Habitat for Humanity ReStore location at 3545 Grand Ave., joked that some think Gurnee ends at Route 41.

"No, it keeps going," said Ammons, who has worked at the store for more than 10 years. "A lot of great businesses are over here. We just need to make sure people are reminded they are still here."

Ammons said he likes the planting project and hopes it can bring a consistent and clean look that the area has lacked.

Budd Busceni, who manages the Grand Avenue Retail Center at 3575 Grand Ave., said the project is a win-win.

"When you're looking for the model of true public-private cooperation, this is it," said Busceni, a commercial broker with Lake Forest Real Estate. "I have been in commercial real estate a long time and I have not seen it to this degree."

Busceni credited Dean and Mayor Kristina Kovarik for effectively communicating with the local businesses.

One way they've done that is by helping establish the Corridor Committee, a group of East Grand business people and village staff members. The group has met three times in recent weeks to discuss how they can work together to boost interest in the area.

Dean said they have several ideas so far, including setting up a farmers market featuring the East Grand businesses later this summer or in the fall.

Ammons, who is part of the committee, said he is encouraged to see residents and property owners at the meetings because they have good ideas, too.

"Everyone has the same goal in mind, drawing more people to East Grand," Ammons said.

If the planting plan is approved by the village board, work should begin within the week and hopefully people would see the flowers by the end of July, Dean said.

Whether the plan passes or not, the Grand Avenue Retail Center will undergo some upgrades of its own this year. Busceni said work could begin on a new, modern facade later this summer.

The Retail Center was purchased by Mustafa Abdalla of Rawda Investment Capital in March. Dean said Abdalla is trying to fill the development's vacancies and is looking into building a restaurant or coffee shop on the land as well.