Downtown face-lift draws positive reviews
There was a time when the concept known as “Main Street” meant a cluster of local neighborhood stores that stood for generations and offered area residents the basic goods and services most needed to get them through the week. And while corporate forces and a struggling economy may have changed the face of Main Street in many places, the village of Lisle is experiencing a comeback.
Business owner Christian Calin of the newly launched Verizon Wireless store on Burlington Avenue says opening his business in downtown Lisle was partly a matter of liking the new curb appeal to the area.
“I don’t live that far from here, and as I would drive by, I’d see the remodeling that was going on and I thought this would be a good location for a business,” Calin said. “I’m totally in love with it, and the people here in the village have been incredibly supportive.”
In June 2009, Lisle officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the completion of the Downtown Lisle Streetscape Improvement Project, a $20 million-dollar venture that began with a master plan in 1999 and has now been completed a decade later. Officials wanted to rebrand the community and create a streetscape that would literally make Lisle a destination that motorists could no longer buzz right through, but rather a place to stop, shop and stroll.
At first, storefronts remained unoccupied as the major wallop of the economy swept through the area. But a year later, business officials note there are almost no vacancies left.
