A month ago, Normal Town Council voted to downsize that proposed building from five stories to four and decided to keep the popular mural with construction planned to start in October.

Now, the project is on hold again after the developer left the project because they couldn’t afford to come up with the money to start construction.

“They were not able to quite get the financing package together that they had hoped for in our target timeline,” Town of Normal city manager Pam Reece said.

“They just felt that now is not the right time for them to move forward,” she added.

Reece said the other stakeholders are still in on the project that dates back to 2017.

Owner and Managing Partner of R-Marketplace Vivian Doctora is one of them.

Doctora is planning to open R-marketplace, a food hall and small business incubator for entrepreneurs to start a food business in the building.

She said despite the delays, she will continue to work to get the business up and running.

“I’m not giving up hope in our vision and [will] try to bring that to life in the Bloomington-Normal community,” Doctora said. “I’m a little impatient, but I know everything is going to work out in itself.

Bloomington Resident Angela Stiles said it would be nice to keep the familiar building around as it holds many memories.

“It’s been a big part of the community,” Stiles said. “So many homecomings and proms. Kids taking pictures here, everyone studies here. Campus is right up the street from here.”

Reece said the Town of Normal has started the search for the next developer in hopes of moving the project forward.