It’s no secret that the Eastland Mall is in decline. The owner of the mall, CBL Properties, even said so in its 2025 property tax appeal. With CBL apparently unwilling to reinvest in the property, WGLT asked the people of McLean County for their own ideas for revitalizing it. After putting out a request for ideas in July, WGLT received more than 2,000 formal submissions and Facebook comments. WGLT whittled the submissions down to 20 and asked the public to choose its Top 5 ideas, which they did during a voting round in August. WGLT then hired a team of four Illinois State University student illustrators from the Wonsook Kim School of Art and Design to help bring these ideas to life