SIGNS OF NEW LIFE ON SEVENTH STREET

The hookers and the winos and the bums are being pushed aside by chocolate
shops, bagel shops and makeup manufacturers. With a new federal historic
designation, the revitalization of Rockford's Seventh Street promises to
continue.

The National Park Service has added the street's commercial district to its
National Register of Historic Places. Seventh Street is among the largest
of 24 areas in Rockford on the register. The status brings eligibility for
federal grants and a 20 percent federal income tax credit, among other
benefits.

Already, five redevelopment projects are under way. Among them: The Mid
Town District Association is building loft housing and commercial and
retail space; Zion Development Corp. is putting up seven condominiums; and
Colorlab Cosmetics is expanding.

Other signs of growth in the last year include the opening of an upscale
Belgian chocolate shop called Leonidas and the new Rockford Bread and Bagel
Co., owned by Rockford Ald. Jeff Holt, D-11. Holt's ward includes the Mid
Town District and Seventh Street.

We prefer these projects to the headlines a decade ago, when the area
seemed to be fighting a losing battle with drug traffickers, prostitutes
and other criminals. The turnaround began in earnest five years ago, with
the renovation of an 89-year-old train depot into a neighborhood resource
center for economic development. Bill Mohr, executive director of Mid Town
then and now, described his motto:

When you turn the lights on, the cockroaches scatter.

They are going to scatter even more in a historic district. Good luck.