A growing need for space led Pathway Services Unlimited to purchase the Trone Appliance Center building on the downtown plaza. It will eventually house Pathway Place, an employment center for the agency’s clients.
Dave Dawson/Journal-Courier
The growing need for space has led Pathway Services Unlimited to purchase a building on the downtown square, which will eventually serve as an employment center for the agency’s clients.
Pathway bought the 66,000-square-foot building at 31 S. Central Park Plaza, formerly home to Trone Appliance Center, in late June for $180,000. It will eventually be called Pathway Place.
Since 1964, Pathway Services has been providing opportunities to people with developmental disabilities and other physical and mental challenges.
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Ryan Dowd, director of Pathway Services, said the agency would like to move into the building and relocate its Community Day Services program, but it will be at least three to six months before the building is ready for occupancy.
“The new building will address the fact that we’ve outgrown the building on West Morton Avenue,” Dowd said. “We like the shape of the building and the layout. It has three sections that really fit the ideas we have for a new space. We have to redo the floors, paint and replace some ceiling tiles, so there’s quite a bit of work to be done.”
That will take time, even if they try to act quickly, he said.
“It’s going to depend on finding contractors,” Dowd said. “But our team has been out to the building a half dozen times taking measurements to get everything ready to complete the project.”
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The exterior of the building also needs some cosmetic sprucing up, but the most important thing for Dowd is getting signs up to let people know it’s a Pathway location.
“We had been looking for another space for about three to four months,” Dowd said. “The Trone building stood out to us because it’s on the plaza and on a corner. It’s a great location for us.”
The space gives Pathway the opportunity to continue growing, he said.
“About a year ago we started making dog treats, shredding them and contracting with the state for jobs that provide more opportunities for the people we work with,” Dowd said.
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The new location will allow for a new direction for Pathway’s Community Day Services program. When Dowd started at Pathway in March 2022, that program was housed in the back of Pathway Plaza and the workspaces were called classrooms.
“I wanted to change that because adults are going to work,” Dowd said. “We even changed the names of the teachers to life-skills trainers. It was a good transition to get more employment. We have a decent workforce now and we needed more space than we had on the square.”
Dowd envisions Pathway Place starting with 10 to 15 people working out of the building and gradually expanding. He sees one area for dog treat and retail production, another for contract work with the state of Illinois, and a third for shredding or other manufacturing.
“Everything that’s work-related, loosely called the occupational area, goes to Pathway Place,” Dowd said. “It certainly helps us with space in the main building.”
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Some work remains at Pathway Plaza, 1905 W. Morton Ave., including the Attic Resale Shop. Car washing and detailing will also remain, as there is both space and equipment to operate there. Cardboard recycling will also remain.
“But most of the paying jobs go to Pathway Place,” Dowd said.
Pathway will partner with the Illinois Department of Rehabilitation Services to provide supportive employment and job placement programs. The state has a variety of contract work that could apply to Pathway, such as assembling hygiene kits needed for Department of Corrections facilities.
“Participants in the state program are paid minimum wage, so there are many opportunities for our people to help the state and earn a competitive wage,” Dowd said.
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Dowd sees the city center as an opportunity to place people in an independent work situation.
“The nice thing about the center is that there are so many options when you’re looking for work,” Dowd said. “We’re hoping that the more capable workers can work with a job coach to work 20 to 30 hours a week and then see the coaching go away as they find work in the community.”
Pathway’s role is to facilitate progress, he said.
“Our job is to get our people to let us off the hook,” he said. “That’s our goal. There’s going to be some who thrive and some who need extra help. Others do better in a controlled environment where they can still make some money. We’re going to work with them to get them into the community.
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“Morton is a great place. It’s very public and busy. The same goes for the plaza. There will be different events throughout the week where we can schedule our time and have staff available on site. We’re just trying to get into the heart of the community. We’ve had positive feedback from people downtown. Many understand our mission and know it’s a great opportunity.”
Others aren’t quite sure what Pathway has to offer, he said.
“Some people don’t really know what we do,” Dowd said. “There’s a mystique around people with disabilities, but we want to be open and show what we do. We want to have an open house when everything is in place.”