Looking Into The Future
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The Rockford economy has suffered since the decline of the manufacturing industry in the late 1980s. Many of the family-owned companies that once inhabited Rockford were acquired by larger companies; the larger companies then relocated the products being made to lower wage parts of the United States or sent them overseas altogether. The city's new focus relies on high-technology businesses, tourism generated by museums and its park system, and the westward growth of the Chicago metropolitan area.
On September 28, 2007, Rick Nielsen, lead guitarist of the rock band Cheap Trick, announced plans for a $25 million restaurant and hotel on the city's far northeast side called "Rick's." The restaurant would have a music theme featuring thousands of guitars and memorabilia that Mr. Nielsen has collected. Groundbreaking was expected in late 2007 with a grand opening in the second half of 2008. As of 2011, this project has not yet materialized. Instead, Swedish American Hospital has begun construction on a new cancer center out near the Riverside Blvd interchange with Interstate 90. A new shopping center is being planned for the northeast corner of the riverside interchange as well.
Read more about this topic: Rockford, Illinois, History, 2000–present: Building A New Image
Famous quotes containing the word future:
“The planet’s survival has become so uncertain that any effort, any thought that presupposes an assured future amounts to a mad gamble.”
—Elias Canetti (b. 1905)