The Winnebago County Board voted tonight to approve a $600,000 loan to Rubloff Development Group for improvements to the Machesney Park Mall.
The county will charge about 4 percent interest over the 10-year term of the loan.
The funds would be used to help fund the construction of a full-access boulevard entry to the mall from Illinois 251.
The mall’s redevelopment will retain jobs, create jobs and help generate sales tax for the village of Machesney Park and Winnebago County, said John Ekberg, who leads the county’s economic development committee.
“It’s also an icon that we want to help support,” Ekberg said. “Rubloff and the tenants there have done a great job of turning that
around, but it needs a little more … We’re going to have pride back into a building that was once thriving and we believe will thrive again.”
