Foreclosure Forces Three Downtown Du Quoin Businesses to Relocate

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ A former Technicolor Universal Media plant manager who borrowed heavily to invest in five Du Quoin properties, then lost his job when TUMS closed and moved east, is walking away from both the properties and the $375,060 debt he incurred in buying them.

Regions Bank of Centralia is foreclosing on Eckerle-held properties at 1-5 East Main Street (Judy & Co. and Pene's Frames); 212 East Main Street (Miss Sipp's Lounge); 217 East Main Street (Kids Come First consignment shop); a commercial property at 808 South Washington Street and a residential property at 426 North Summers.

Eckerle had mortgaged the building that Judy & Co. is in for $112,000; the building (formerly the Economy building) that Miss Sipp's is in for $134,622; the building that Kids Come First is in for $51,480; the 808 South Washington Street property for $41,338 and the residential property at 426 North Summers Street for $35,620.

Eckerle had previously written eviction notices to the tenants of some of the buildings, saying that they had become too costly to maintain and there was no growth equity in his purchases. He told Judy & Co. owner Judy Smid and Pene's Frames owner Pene Harbuck that it was cheaper for him to evict the tenants and shut down the buildings--even though there was a reported offer for the three downtown buildings of $200,000 on the table.

All tenants are now afraid of the insecurity of bank ownership of the properties and have been scouting places to relocate to. Judy & Co. will move to the old Sawyer Paint & Wallpaper Store location on East Main Street near the Grand Theater. The space is currently occupied by Mike Ward's gym. Miss Sipp's will move from the nearby Economy Variety Store building to the rear of the building that was once B & J True Value, now Main Street T's. Kids Come First will move from East Main Street across from the theater to the corner of North Walnut and West Main, a location recently occupied by Faith Photography and years ago was known simply as the Du Quoin pool hall.

One store owner commented, "It's a case of paper coming down on some storefront windows and paper going up on the Eckerle buildings." City council members, local business leaders and the Main Street program express their hope that Regions bank will market the buildings and work as quickly as it can to identify buyers or tenants for the abandoned properties.