Rural Wildwood is growing so much, the city is building new developments to keep up with the demand.There are two big projects in the works that aim to make more room for the crowds: a parking garage and a commercial building. Mila’s on Main, a beauty salon, is getting ready to welcome its first customers next week. “We thought it was starting to get busier and busier. Obviously, with all the new building and The Villages and this whole area’s kind of reemerging,” said Nick White, whose mother owns Mila’s on Main. His mother purchased the property along with others in downtown just in time. “Now we’re just looking for somebody to go there,” White said. “So right now, on weekends, you know, most of our activity isn’t in the downtown. That’s one of the things that we’re trying to fix,” Jason McHugh said who is the city manager. A redevelopment plan for downtown Wildwood will soon bring the new parking garage that’ll be feet away from an 8,000-square-foot commercial building.The goal is to bring more food options. “We wanted to kind of compliment Miz Kathy’s Cotillion and some of the other things that we’ve got there and make Wildwood more of a destination, but also have a nice open space area where families can come in, they can relax,” McHugh said. Businesses like Miz Kathi’s Cotillion Southern Café are excited about the growth because they say they could use more neighbors and customers.”I mean, we opened in ’08 during the recession, so we would have made it without the community’s support,” said Joel Vincent, who is a chef at the cafe. It’s a similar survival story for the cafe after the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily closed it.The cafe’s crowds have doubled since – just like the city’s population. Wildwood has grown from 15,000 residents to more than 30,000 in the last three years. “Any new businesses that come into Wildwood are good for us and the other restaurants or bakeries or anything,” Vincent said. “We’re always excited for anything coming here simply because they bring business that might not have come to us.”Construction on the parking garage should finish in October 2024.Completion of the commercial building should follow at least six months later. A groundbreaking for the parking garage is scheduled in January.Top headlines:Police: Central Florida resident shot man 6 times after he came to door asking to ‘drink and chill’Heartbroken Florida father calls for action after daughter, her fiancée killed in racing crash’I ran for my life’: Florida man recalls having throat slashed by best friend of 15 years
Rural Wildwood is growing so much, the city is building new developments to keep up with the demand.
There are two big projects in the works that aim to make more room for the crowds: a parking garage and a commercial building.
Mila’s on Main, a beauty salon, is getting ready to welcome its first customers next week.
“We thought it was starting to get busier and busier. Obviously, with all the new building and The Villages and this whole area’s kind of reemerging,” said Nick White, whose mother owns Mila’s on Main.
His mother purchased the property along with others in downtown just in time.
“Now we’re just looking for somebody to go there,” White said.
“So right now, on weekends, you know, most of our activity isn’t in the downtown. That’s one of the things that we’re trying to fix,” Jason McHugh said who is the city manager.
A redevelopment plan for downtown Wildwood will soon bring the new parking garage that’ll be feet away from an 8,000-square-foot commercial building.
The goal is to bring more food options.
“We wanted to kind of compliment Miz Kathy’s Cotillion and some of the other things that we’ve got there and make Wildwood more of a destination, but also have a nice open space area where families can come in, they can relax,” McHugh said.
Businesses like Miz Kathi’s Cotillion Southern Café are excited about the growth because they say they could use more neighbors and customers.
“I mean, we opened in ’08 during the recession, so we would have made it without the community’s support,” said Joel Vincent, who is a chef at the cafe.
It’s a similar survival story for the cafe after the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily closed it.
The cafe’s crowds have doubled since – just like the city’s population.
Wildwood has grown from 15,000 residents to more than 30,000 in the last three years.
“Any new businesses that come into Wildwood are good for us and the other restaurants or bakeries or anything,” Vincent said. “We’re always excited for anything coming here simply because they bring business that might not have come to us.”
Construction on the parking garage should finish in October 2024.
Completion of the commercial building should follow at least six months later.
A groundbreaking for the parking garage is scheduled in January.
Top headlines:
A grocery chain with locations aroundNew York City plans to open its fourth outpost in Ridgewood, Queens, Commercial Observer has learned.
Met Fresh signed a 20-year lease for 14,000 square feet at 67-09 Fresh Pond Road, a stand-alone property owned by an entity known as YYY Realty, which shares an address with Sang Kung Realty at 110 Bowery in Manhattan, according to property records and brokers on the deal.
Asking rent was $65 per square foot, according to a broker for the tenant.
“Finding grocery space right now is not easy due to the fact that new developments have dropped off the charts,” Verada Retail’s Nathaniel Mallon, who repped the tenant alongside Brendan Thrapp and Julia Zoraian, told CO.
Marc Sitt and Dorel Melloul of Kassin Sabbagh Realty represented the landlord in the deal.
“The high visibility on Fresh Pond Road and use of the parking lot makes it a natural fit for a market of their caliber in this exciting neighborhood,” Melloul said in a statement.
The supermarket is owned and operated by Danny Hamdan, under Associated Supermarket Group’s Met Fresh banner, and opened its first store in neighboring Bushwick, Brooklyn, in 2018. It has since expanded to outposts in Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey and is known for its walk-in “beer cave.”
Met Fresh’s Ridgewood location — next to the Fresh Pond Road stop near the terminus of the M train, and a block away from a competitor Food Universe Marketplace — is set to open in the first quarter of 2024.
YYY Realty purchased the Fresh Pond Road property in March from First Class Management for $5.7 million after acquiring it from CapitalOne Bank in 2022, according to property records.
Mark Hallum@can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
Many commercial landlords require that a guarantor secure the obligations and liabilities of a tenant as a prerequisite for entering into a lease. A lease guaranty is a contract between an individual or entity (guarantor) that is typically related to the tenant. The guarantor promises to pay the landlord any and all payments due under the lease in the event the tenant defaults under its lease obligations and otherwise cure the tenant’s defaults.
Today, most commercial leases are entered into by an entity as the tenant, such as a limited liability company or corporation. That entity is often a shell company that is created solely to engage in the business at the leased premises and may be part of a multilayered corporate structure designed to provide maximum liability protection for the tenant’s principals. This creates significant hurdles for the landlord in the event the tenant defaults under the lease. Even if the landlord is ultimately successful in securing a court judgment against the tenant, it may be a hollow victory as the tenant may have little or no assets to collect against. To mitigate this risk, landlords now routinely require either a personal or corporate guaranty to secure a tenant’s obligations under the lease.
Depending on the financial condition and bargaining position of the tenant and guarantor, the parties may enter into various types of lease guarantees, which are outlined below:
- Full or Absolute Guaranty. This is the gold standard for most landlords, as this guaranty provides the landlord the most comprehensive coverage. It requires the guarantor to cover all of the tenant’s obligations under the lease, without limitation. This can include payment of all monetary obligations under the lease (i.e., payment of rent, tenant’s share of operating expenses and utility charges), as well as non-monetary obligations (i.e., maintenance of insurance coverage, repairs, licenses and permits). Another benefit for landlords is that a full guaranty does not impose any conditions upon the landlord before it may pursue the guarantor. Thus, the landlord can move quickly to enforce the guaranty following a default by the tenant to be made whole.
- Partial or Limited Guaranty. Sometimes referred to as “rolling” or “floating” guarantees, partial guarantees provide more protections for tenants before they may be enforced. A partial guaranty may be limited to just a tenant’s monetary obligations under the lease, and the guarantor’s liability may be capped at a specific dollar amount. A partial guaranty may begin as a full guaranty, then transition to a partial guaranty following a certain period of time. In addition, a partial guaranty may include a “burn off” or “sunset” provision whereby the amount of guarantor’s financial liability is decreased over a period of time before terminating completely. A partial guaranty may also impose certain conditions on a landlord such as requiring the landlord to pursue or exhaust its remedies against the tenant before it can enforce its rights under the guaranty.
- Springing or Bad Acts Guaranty. This is a form of partial guaranty that becomes enforceable only upon the occurrence of a specified event. The triggering event is typically an event of default by tenant under the lease, which can include the tenant entering bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings or the tenant’s net worth falling below a certain threshold. The triggering event may also be a result of tenant’s “bad acts.” These include fraud, damage to the premises resulting from tenant’s actions or negligence, contamination of the premises by hazardous substances or criminal prosecution of the tenant or guarantor.
- Good Guy Guaranty. This is a form of limited guaranty and that is attractive for many tenants. Under a traditional Good Guy Guaranty, which is common in New York City, the guarantor’s liability is terminated upon the tenant’s surrender of the premises. The tenant must pay all lease payments through the date of surrender and return the keys to the landlord. Most Good Guy Guarantees require the tenant to provide the landlord reasonable advance notice of the intended surrender date, and the tenant must surrender the premises in good condition. However, a Good Guy Guaranty may also impose certain requirements on the guarantor that may survive the tenant’s surrender of the premises, such as requiring the guarantor to remove the tenant’s alterations and restore the premises to its condition upon commencement of the lease term.
Conclusion
Most limited guarantees are subject to the tenant being in good standing under the terms and conditions of the lease. The parties may agree to some combination of a standard guaranty with full liability against the guarantor that may convert into a rolling guaranty provided that no event of default has occurred under the lease. Further, any limit on a guarantor’s liability may be subject to reimbursing the landlord the amortized cost of any improvements that were constructed for the tenant or tenant improvement allowance, brokerage commissions, and for all costs and expenses incurred by the landlord in enforcing and collecting under the lease and the guaranty.
Ultimately, these are general concepts, and there is room for negotiation between the parties depending on many factors – including financial condition of the tenant and/or guarantor, desirability of the location, lender requirements, etc. Landlords, tenants and guarantors should carefully consider these and other factors when negotiating a guaranty of a commercial lease.
AutoZone easily beat earnings and sales estimates for its fiscal fourth quarter but the stock was falling after sales in the company’s domestic commercial division came up short.
AutoZone (ticker: AZO) posted fourth-quarter earnings of $46.46 a share, rising from a year ago and beating Wall Street’s estimate of $45.17.
Net sales for the…
easily beat earnings and sales estimates for its fiscal fourth quarter but the stock was falling after sales in the company’s domestic commercial division came up short.
(ticker: AZO) posted fourth-quarter earnings of $46.46 a share, rising from a year ago and beating Wall Street’s estimate of $45.17.
Net sales for the automotive replacement parts maker were $5.69 billion, also climbing from the year-ago quarter and beating expectations of $5.61 billion. But total domestic commercial sales were $1.499 billion, below the $1.55 billion analysts had forecast.
Same-store sales for the quarter rose 4.5%, falling from 7.1% a year ago but higher than the 2.4% jump analysts had expected.
“While we started this quarter slowly, we saw improvements in the back half of our quarter,” said CEO Bill Rhodes in the earnings release. “Despite lower-than-expected growth in domestic Commercial, we believe that the initiatives we have in place and are implementing will drive stronger growth in fiscal 2024.”
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AutoZone stock fell 2.2% to $2,467 in premarket trading. Coming into Tuesday’s session, shares have gained 2.3% this year.
Write to Emily Dattilo at emily.dattilo@dowjones.com
A Korean media company dropped $37 million to buy a 113,000-square-foot office building near Midtown Manhattan’s Koreatown, Commercial Observer has learned.
RJF Realty unloaded the property at 110 West 32nd Street, with an alternative address of 115 West 31st Street, to a partnership led by MediaWill, a Korean media company, and Tony Park, according to one of the brokers on the deal.
“The sale demonstrates the continued demand for well-located office product with proximity to major transportation hubs such as Penn Station,” Albert Sultan of Kassin Sabbagh Realty (KSR) said in a statement.
Sultan and Sophia Gaines of KSR represented RJF Realty in the sale while Elad Dror of PD Properties negotiated on behalf of MediaWill.
“We are currently seeing a lot of private capital from Europe and Asia looking for opportunities in strong locations in Manhattan, in this case, the building’s proximity to Koreatown and Penn Station was very attractive to the buyers,” Dror said in a statement.
MediaWill paid about $370 per square foot for the property, which has been in the hands of the seller for about 40 years and will be delivered vacant.
“This partnership is looking for additional opportunities in Manhattan across all asset classes,” Park said in a statement.
MediaWill and RJF Realty could not be reached for comment.
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
Wholesale giant Costco purchased a nearly 186,600-square-foot retail property in Southern California’s Inland Empire earlier this month, according to data provided by Vizzda.
LNR Partners, an affiliate of Starwood Property Trust, sold the property for $37.5 million, or $201 per square foot, for the multi-tenant site at 13251 Peyton Drive in Chino Hills. A Costco wholesale store sits in the same retail park across from the property.
The property encompasses two buildings, constructed in 2000, on about 20.7 acres of land. Current tenants include Bed Bath & Beyond, with 30,049 square feet, Petsmart, with 18,875 square feet, and Dollar Tree, with 10,000 square feet. There are also five other retail spaces on the property, according to Vizzda.
The sale is indicative of the Inland Empire’s buzzing retail market. According to a retail research report released by Colliers (CIGI) in July, the average monthly lease rates in the Inland Empire reached $1.78 per square foot in the second quarter of this year, an increase of 8 percent from the second quarter of 2022.
Vacancy rates in the Inland Empire dropped to 6.7 percent, a decrease of 10 basis points from the previous quarter.
Nick Trombola can be reached at NTrombola@commercialobserver.com.
- The city is deliberating on whether to use a downtown building, with a 5 year lease, as a temporary office space.
- Thomasville residents are concerned about where the money to pay for this will come from and taking away commercial real estate from downtown.
- Check out the video above to find out what residents had to says.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT
“It really doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. That area is prime commercial real estate for shops,” said Sam Link.
The city is considering leasing a downtown building, on W Jackson Street, for office space.
The building has been on the market for the past 2 months. It was formally used as a commercial property like most of downtown’s area.
Sam Link is one of many community members who spoke at Monday’s City Council meeting.
Link feels the building should be used for retail with the sales tax being pumped back into the city.
“The last time I checked office buildings do not generate any tax dollars— sales tax,” said Link.
The city tells me their current municipal auditorium needs some repairs and that they need a temporary workplace in the meantime. That’s why the city is considering leasing the building despite the owner of the property asking for a 5-year lease.
“Have you fully thought out the cost of taking on the long-term commitment given the upcoming discussions around the budget and trying to avoid a millage increase or utility increases,” said Audrey Lender.
It was just a few weeks ago when the city decided to postpone its vote about increasing property taxes as they continue to review their budget and give residents more time to prepare.
Some neighbors however believe leasing the space could be a good thing.
“It’s sitting there doing nothing. We have enough vacant buildings doing nothing and it’s actually something that’s needed. So why not use it for something that’s needed,” said Leon Smith.
While others worry this latest idea could be the beginning of change.
“Thank you again and I ask that you table this tonight,” said Link.
The City Council will pick this issue back up at its next city council meeting on the September 25th.
Delight Bazar Supermarket, Option Care Health and Quest Diagnostics are moving to 1041 Coney Island Avenue, a new six-story mixed-use building in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, according to brokers on the deal.
All three tenants signed 10-year leases for space on the ground floor, said MOD Commercial Realty’s Meyer Dagmy, who represented the building’s owner, Foster and Coney Realty. Asking rent was $75 per square foot.
The family-owned firm had medical tenants in mind for the building, Dagmy said.
“It’s a beautiful space with high ceilings,” he said. “We were looking for physical therapy or medical uses that would complement one another.”
He met his clients halfway. Delight Bazar signed on for 6,500 square feet, taking the largest ground-floor retail unit in the building. The grocery chain is a destination for shoppers with international taste, offering a range of South Asian products and affordable fresh produce.
A supermarket will be a welcome addition to the Coney Island shopping corridor, Dagmy said, after the nearby Key Food at 1407 Foster Avenue closed.
KK Capital Group’s Raj Whadwa, who represented Delight, said the neighborhood and the site’s size make it a good fit for his client. Delight has locations in New Jersey and California, and the Coney Island Avenue spot will be its third.
National medical testing provider Quest Diagnostics signed a lease for 2,000 square feet next door in a smaller ground-floor unit. The company will relocate its Church Avenue office to the new space, Dagmy said.
Finally, Option Care Health, a provider of infusion therapy with locations across the United States, also signed a lease for 2,000 square feet on the ground floor.
CBRE (CBRE)’s Adam Bass and Eric Gillman represented Quest Diagnostics and Option Care Health. Bass and Gillman could not be reached for comment.
The building’s storefronts are now more than 75 percent rented, Dagmy said.
Abigail Nehring can be reached at anehring@commercialobserver.com.
RANTOUL — The village board this month will be asked to approve rezoning of parcels near the Rantoul Family Sports Complex that could clear the way for additional economic development.
The Warner Dynasty Trust is asking the village to rezone property known as 950-982 Broadmeadow Road and 825, 829 and 867 Stone Bridge Drive from AG (agriculture) to C-2 (commercial) to allow for commercial development.
Village Administrator Scott Eisenhauer said part of the property is directly adjacent to the sports complex. Another part is between the complex and Interstate 57, while the remaining land is north of the complex along Stone Bridge Drive.
“The rezoning is necessary due to increased interest in development … near the complex,” Eisenhauer said.
“We are on track for spring and early summer to be a very busy construction season.”
Kristi Pflugmacher of the Warner trust said the rezoning request is to prepare in the event of contracts for development.
“We are seeing more interest,” Pflugmacher said. “We just felt like we wanted to be prepared for the future. We just wanted to get it completed.”
She said a little more than 20 acres is involved.
West side developmentThe sports complex has spurred development on the west side, including a miniature golf course bordering the complex, and a strip mall on the grounds of a motel building that was demolished at the corner of Murray Road and U.S. 136.
The strip mall will be home to five businesses. One of them, Verizon, has already opened, Eisenhauer said.
“Starbucks is supposed to open this month. I believe Jersey Mike’s is too.”
Eisenhauer said he hasn’t been informed when a Little Caesar’s pizza and another unannounced business will open.
Eisenhauer said earlier that the site of a former gas station across Murray Road from the new strip mall is a hot property.
Busey Bank reportedly will build a facility east of the Jimmy John’s on U.S. 136 as well.
Rantoul officials had hoped development would take off sooner than it has, but the COVID-19 pandemic followed by skyrocketing construction material costs have slowed advancement.
Downtown RantoulRantoul Urban Planner Chris Milliken said he recently received news that a $3 million Rebuild Illinois state grant that was announced earlier this year may soon be coming for downtown.
“It sounds like our money from the state has shaken loose,” Milliken said.
He said he will apply for a small grant as well that will be part of the downtown revitalization project.
Milliken hopes much of the work can be completed next year.
The first part of construction will be digging up the streets and alleys and installing new storm sewers and water lines.
The next phase would be ripping out and adding new pavement and sidewalks and adding streetscaping.
“That’s the plan, to do it in one construction season,” he said.
Back when folks walked more and most everybody “shopped local,” Bloomington’s west side had several small commercial districts apart from the city’s downtown and its fancy department stores.
The largest of these comprised several blocks of West Chestnut Street and served the Chicago & Alton Railroad Shops to the immediate west.
Another working-class, west-side hub was the 1000 block of West Washington Street, with Morris Avenue to the east and Western Avenue and the Chicago & Alton Railroad (now Amtrak/Union Pacific) tracks to the west. Beginning in the late 19th century, this one-block stretch was home to candy, cigar and clothing stores, short-order diners, saloons, groceries, barbershops, modest apartments and some light industry.
Back a century ago the 1000 block of West Washington was a good place to do business. Next door were the McLean County Coal Co. mine, the Chicago & Alton (C&A) passenger station and the Paul F. Beich Co. candy factory, and thus the commercial block served neighborhood residents, the local workforce and railway travelers. In addition to the C&A, two more rail lines, at one time the Lake Erie and Western and the “Big Four,” passed right behind the south side of the block.
One imagines that the piercing whistles and hissing steam of locomotives provided a fitting soundtrack to those who lived and worked in the immediate neighborhood.
The block was long a mix of industrial and commercial enterprises. In 1889, Armour Packing Co. of Chicago erected a two-story wood frame structure on the north side of the block and just east of the C&A tracks. Armour used this building to store dressed beef shipped from Chicago, which in turn was sold wholesale to local butchers.
In July 1897 John Schloeffel erected a handsome two-story commercial building at the southwest corner of Morris and Washington to showcase his grocery and meat market.
A little bit later, African-American entrepreneur George Hoagland opened a cleaning supply factory on the block’s north side. Born in Kentucky to an enslaved mother, Hoagland and his wife Rosa settled in Normal in the late 1880s.
His factory employed African-American men and women involved in the manufacture of Hoagland’s brand name “Oil of Gladness” polish, good for hardwood floors, linoleum and the like.
Schloeffel’s sons, Arthur and Lester, kept the family grocery running for a time, though they ceded the corner (or west) half of their building to one-legged Paul Scholz, who operated a cigar and candy shop from that location into the 1920s.
Later that decade John Schloeffel opened a filling station at the northwest corner of Morris and Washington, opposite his commercial building and grocery. Today the filling station serves as home base for Circle City Cab Co.
In December 1930 brothers Lawrence, Maurice and Leo Irvin launched Evergreen Beverage Co., with the business eventually moving several doors down to 1005 W. Washington St. That building still stands though much of its façade is now obscured with corrugated metal.
“It was a hustling little area,” recalled Lawrence Irvin in 1980, thinking back to the old commercial block and Prohibition. “If it hadn’t been for the bootleggers, we wouldn’t have survived. We sold them soft drinks and they kept us in business.”
Evergreen later became Pepsi Cola Bottling Co. and relocated to Greenwood Avenue on the city’s south side.
From the late 1930s to the early 1950s Walt Bittner ran a confectionary in the corner half of the Schloeffel building. Bittner, who served as Bloomington mayor from 1969 to 1977, in his younger years took to calling the block the “Great West Side.”
Although a little worse for wear, the south side of 1000 block of West Washington Street was still a busy place in 1958. Starting from the Schloeffel building at the east end of the block and proceeding down the street, one could visit John and Gene’s Confectionary, Bee Hive Grocery, the Brokaw Hospital Service League Thrift Shop, Leonard H. Robinson’s barbershop, West Side Cleaners, New Deal Grocery, West Side Clothing and National Wine & Liquors. Today most of the buildings are gone.
By the mid-1970s the once-lively block was in visible decline as old neighborhood commercial districts (to say nothing of downtowns) across the nation were hollowed out by auto-centric suburban development epitomized by the sterile shopping mall. Along the block, vacant buildings were torn down and the empty lots given up to weeds and windblown trash. The wrecking ball met the lovely Schloeffel building in the early 1980s.
Even so, at least one business survived the decline to become a symbol of west side resilience, receiving the loyal support of countless folks from all over the Twin Cities — even the east side! West Side Clothing, dating back to 1914 and the partnership of George Teiber and Hungarian immigrant Steve Yeager, served successive generations seeking work clothes and no-nonsense attire. Clark and Mary Taminger became owners in 1980, and by defying the odds and west-side naysayers, Clark and his daughter Karen Bell kept the store open until 2012.
Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias visited the McLean County Museum of History to explore its exhibits, library and archives
Photos: 2023 History Makers Gala
Tom Eder, left, and Carolyn Yockey close out the 2023 History Makers Gala on Wednesday. The event marked the end of Eder’s tenure as president of the McLean County Museum of History Board, a role now filled by Yockey.
Charles Halbert, left, and Willie Halbert speak to the crowd after being honored on Wednesday during the 2023 History Makers Gala in the Brown Ballroom on the campus of Illinois State University.
Charles Halbert, left, and Willie Halbert speak to the crowd after being honored on Wednesday during the 2023 History Makers Gala in the Brown Ballroom on the campus of Illinois State University.
Sarah McManus, left, holds the microphone for her mother, Dottie Bushnell, on Wednesday during the 2023 History Makers Gala in the Brown Ballroom on the campus of Illinois State University.
Sarah McManus, left, holds the microphone for her mother, Dottie Bushnell, on Wednesday during the 2023 History Makers Gala in the Brown Ballroom on the campus of Illinois State University.
Bob Lenz, left, introduces Guy Fraker on Wednesday during the 2023 History Makers Gala in the Brown Ballroom on the campus of Illinois State University.
Bob Lenz, left, and Guy Fraker pose with the award on Wednesday during the 2023 History Makers Gala in the Brown Ballroom on the campus of Illinois State University.
Bob Lenz, left, introduces Guy Fraker on Wednesday during the 2023 History Makers Gala in the Brown Ballroom on the campus of Illinois State University.
Hank and Mary Campbell are recognized on Wednesday during the 2023 History Makers Gala in the Brown Ballroom on the campus of Illinois State University.
Hank and Mary Campbell on Wednesday during the 2023 History Makers Gala in the Brown Ballroom on the campus of Illinois State University.
Hank Campbell speaks after being honored on Wednesday during the 2023 History Makers Gala in the Brown Ballroom on the campus of Illinois State University.
Hank Campbell speaks after being honored on Wednesday during the 2023 History Makers Gala in the Brown Ballroom on the campus of Illinois State University.
Illinois Voices Theatre’s Cristen Monson, left, and Eden Susong perform on Wednesday during the 2023 History Makers Gala in the Brown Ballroom on the campus of Illinois State University.
Illinois Voices Theatre’s Jennifer Rusk, left to right, Cristen Monson and Eden Susong on Wednesday during the 2023 History Makers Gala in the Brown Ballroom on the campus of Illinois State University.
Julie Emig, executive director of the McLean County Museum of History, speaks on Wednesday during the 2023 History Makers Gala in the Brown Ballroom on the campus of Illinois State University.
Mary Campbell on Wednesday during the 2023 History Makers Gala in the Brown Ballroom on the campus of Illinois State University.
Timothy Mark Harris, left, introduces Charles Halbert on Wednesday during the 2023 History Makers Gala. Halbert and his wife, Willie, were recognized for long efforts to advocate for justice and equality in Bloomington-Normal.
McLean County Museum of History Board President Tom Eder, left, and Executive Director Julie Emig address the hundreds of attendees at the 2023 History Makers Gala.
Willie and Charles Halbert smile on Wednesday as they are honored during the 2023 History Makers Gala in the Brown Ballroom at Illinois State University.
Charles and Willie Halbert, center, pose for a photo with Timothy Mark Harris and Karin Harris on Wednesday at the 2023 History Makers Gala. The Harrises delivered remarks honoring the Halberts during the event, held at Illinois State University’s Brown Ballroom.
Charles and Willie Halbert, center, pose for a photo with Timothy Mark Harris and Karin Harris on Wednesday at the 2023 History Makers Gala. The Harrises delivered remarks honoring the Halberts during the event, held at Illinois State University’s Brown Ballroom.
Willie Halbert reacts on Wednesday during the 2023 History Makers Gala, where she and her husband were recognized for their contributions to the Bloomington-Normal community.
Willie Halbert reacts Wednesday during the 2023 History Makers Gala, where she and her husband Charles were among those recognized.
Pieces From Our Past is a weekly column by the McLean County Museum of History. Bill Kemp is the librarian at the museum.