The Prairie Building's First 100 Years

A commercial school had operated in Peoria as early as 1857. Others followed and in 1888 had consolidated into ownership that included George W. Brown, Principal of the Jacksonville (IL) Business College. This was the origin of Brown's Business College that grew into twenty-two institutions, including locations at St. Louis, Bloomington, Davenport, Rockford, Terre Haute, Cairo, Jacksonville, Decatur, Muscatine and other cities of the central west.

In 1902, The Peoria Herald Transcript reported a building was being constructed in downtown Peoria.

"This handsome building, the plans for which were drawn by Herbert Edmund Hewitt, the well known architect, will be erected in the near future. It will be located at the corner of Jefferson and Liberty Streets and will be known as the Brown's Business College building as the school will take up much of the space in the structure. It will be a welcome addition to the city of Peoria and will no doubt afford the business college ample rooms for their classes"

The architect, Herbert Edmund Hewitt was born in Bloomington, Illinois in 1871. He graduated from Peoria High School, attended the University of Illinois, received a B. S. degree from MIT and continued his studies at the University of Chicago architects. During this period, they wre completing the twenty-two story Chicago Masonic Temple that became the world's tallest building of that time. That design incorporated steel columns to improve structural integrity and supported taller buildings. That technique would later be used in the Prairie Building.

Mr. Hewitt began his practice of architecture in Peoria in 1897 that would design many of the largest and most artistic buildings in central Illinois. Among the prominent structures that Hewitt and his firm designed and supervised were the Commercial National Bank Building, Creve Coeur Club, YWCA Building, GAR Hall, Orpheum Theatre, Pere Marquette Hotel and the Jefferson Hotel. This represents a small selection of an extensive listing of commercial, industrial, ecclesiastical, bank, institutional and educational buildings as well as numerous private residences. Mr. Hewitt died in 1944.

So, in late 1902, Brown's Business College moved into the 2nd and 3rd floors of this new building at 240 SW Jefferson Street. They subsequently grew to an overall enrollment of 3,000 students studying to be bookkeepers, stenographers, cashiers, clerks and other office help.

A change of ownership in 1960 resulted in the college name being changed to Midstate College that subsequently grew to occupy the entire building. Midstate College sold the 240 SW Jefferson Street building in 1997 and relocated to 411 W. Northmoor Road on Peoria's north side. This completed 95 years of education and training by the college at this same downtown location.

Prairie Property Management, Inc. on purchasing the building changed its name to The Prairie Building. Architect Leslie H. Kenyon of Kenyon and Associates were consultants to a total renovation of the building. Mr. Kenyon has described the building as a "flamboyant commercial structure showing Prairie Style influences were geometric relief patterns embellish the spandrels between the second and third floor windows. As in other early buildings on sloping downtown sites, iron stairs had descended to cast iron storefronts below the level of the Liberty Street sidewalk."

In 1999, Liberty Investments, Inc. opened the "Lindsay's on Liberty" restaurant in the lower level of the Prairie Building and the "Bistro 320" at 320 Liberty Street. This was followed the next year with the "Prairie Sky Rooms" on the second and third floors to host banquets, meetings and entertainment. Now, in 2004, the first floor has been converted into the "Lindsay's Lounge" to be a central gathering place to access the amenities existing throughout the building. The Prairie Building now looks forward to the next 100 years of serving Peoria and Central Illinois as a center for education, entertainment, socializing and cultural enrichment.