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Commerce and industry
Marion, Illinois is located at the intersection of Interstate 57 and State Route 13 in southern Illinois.
From quaint antique stores to a regional shopping mall, residents and visitors will find a wide variety of retail products and services from which to choose.
Marion's growth is phenomenal. It has become the fastest growing town south of St. Louis, and one of the fastest growing cities in Illinois. Its location, at the crossroads of Rt. 13 and Interstate 57 make it a prime candidate for future growth. One of the largest Wal-Mart Supercenter Stores in the world opened on September 20, 2006. It measures a staggering 206,000 sq ft (19,100 m²) in area, with 36 separate departments and over 500 employees. An equally large Menards store opened on The Hill in November, 2006, adding to further development of Marion's newest commercial district. Other restaurants, such as McAlister's Deli, Sao Asian Bistro, and 17th Street Bar And Grill are also located here, as well as banks, hotels and stores.
The newest attraction to open is a Rent One Park, which opened in May 2007, home to the Frontier League's Southern Illinois Miners.
Popular local restaurants in Marion include Walt's, Bennie's, Sao Asian Bistro, 17th Street Bar and Grill (The only 3-time World Champion in BBQ), La Fiesta, and Tequilas, among many others. Easy access to I-57 has made Marion a market of choice for several popular chain restaurants like Applebee's, Red Lobster, and Cracker Barrel.
Tourism Industry
With more than 1100 rooms in a dozen hotels and almost 100 restaurants Marion offers the biggest concentration of tourism-related businesses along Interstate 57 in Southern Illinois. The Williamson County Tourism Bureau serves as the city and county's official destination marketing organization with offices in the Williamson County Pavilion behind the Illinois Centre Mall.
The Pavilion conference center and expo hall is a city-owned, county-financed, joint project between the city, county, the tourism bureau and the Williamson County Events Commission. Operated on a daily basis by the tourism bureau the Pavilion offers three large ballrooms, a small meeting room and a 35,000 sq ft (3,300 m²) expo hall.
Major hotels include Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites and Holiday Inn Express at Exit 53 (Main Street) and Drury Inn, Fairfield Inn and Hampton Inn at Exit 54 (Route 13). A new Country Inn and Suites broke ground in February 2008 and a new Holiday Inn Express is scheduled to break ground this summer at The Hill.
Marion's strength as a tourism center lies in its status as a "hub" for Southern Illinois. Tourists can use the city as a base then make day trips to the many area wineries and scenic attractions in the region's numerous state parks, historic sites and environmental areas.
Major attractions include the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail and the new Southern Illinois Wine Trail that between the two link 16 of the 23 area wineries within a 45-mile radius of Marion. Ferne Clyffe State Park and Giant City State Park are two of the closest and most popular sites as well as Bald Knob Cross, Garden of the Gods and Cave-in-Rock State Park.
Major activities include fishing at the region's major lakes including Crab Orchard Lake, Devil's Kitchen Lake and Little Grassy Lake in the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge as well as the Lake of Egypt south of Marion owned by the Southern Illinois Power Co.
Summer-time attractions include pro-baseball with the Southern Illinois Miners at Rent One Park up on "The Hill", midget car racing at the Southern Illinois Raceway and ATV and off-road motorcycle trails at Little Egypt Off-Road, the latter two located east of Marion near Crab Orchard. |
