By mid July Prell told area business leaders that Herrin was the "hub of Metro-Lakeland" which he had dubbed to then contain 140,000 residents. Herrin, he said, had the best chance at becoming the strongest downtown business district in Southern Illinois. He even proposed a land clearance program in the central business district so a shopping mall be built in the 100 blocks of East and West Cherry Street and 200 block of North Park Avenue in Herrin that was then, and still is, the alignment for Illinois Route 148.