The City of Venice received a $2.4 million state grant on Thursday to help build a grocery store — the first step in a plan to revitalize the Metro East town.
Providing the community with access to fresh produce and nutritious food options is a key step to rebuild the town, said Alderman Tyrone Echols.
“It will put fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and healthy options within walking distance for families — who have gone without them before too long,” Echols said at a press conference. “But this project is about more than access to groceries.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and officials from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity made the announcement in Venice, the same city where the governor signed the legislation in 2023 that will fund the project into law.
“Every single Illinoisan, regardless of their ZIP code, deserves access to fresh, reliable and affordable grocery options,” Pritzker said Thursday.
Known as the Illinois Grocery Initiative, the program allocated $20 million to help seed grocery stores in food deserts in urban or rural parts of the state. The Metro East store’s funding comes during the second wave of grants the state has awarded.
The closest grocery stores or supermarkets are at least four miles away from Venice residents in Granite City. Urban communities are considered to be a food desert if grocery stores are more than one mile away, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Ed Hightower, the former Edwardsville public schools superintendent and Big Ten basketball referee, will be the primary investor of the Venice grocery store. The city will own the store’s building, and it will lease the space to Hightower.
“The Venice grocery store project represents more than a few new infrastructures,” Hightower said. “It symbolizes economic revitalization, job creation and a renewed commitment to the well being of working families.”
The store will be built across the street from the public library and City Hall. Hightower said he hopes construction will start this fall and conclude next spring.
The grocery store is one of a host of projects planned in town.
A $26 million K-8 school building will open later this fall, and city officials hope to break ground on 40 new affordable single-family homes this summer, Hightower said.
Construction of a health clinic just south of the grocery store that will be operated by SIHF Healthcare is also planned to begin this fall.
The various economic development projects planned in the heart of Venice all stem from the city’s lost population and wealth since the 1960s.
At the 1950 census, Venice reported a population of more than 6,000 residents. At the 2020 census, roughly 1,500 lived in the Metro East town. The city’s household median income stands at less than $35,000.
Madison County Board Chairman Chris Slusser, R-Wood River, has made the revitalization of Mississippi River communities along Illinois Route 3, like Venice, a priority. The first-term chairman noted that his hometown, Wood River, isn’t a wealthy community, but it has three grocery stores.
“I'm excited about this project, and I pray this is the first step in transforming this community,” Slusser said.
In the second phase, city officials hoped to build a child care center, a career and vocational center, a new bike trail and a funeral home funded by a private investor.
“This is the first step to getting Venice to where she used to be and to where she's going to be,” said state Sen. Chris Belt, D-Swansea. “This is a very transformational day for Venice.”
