The City of Pana’s historic downtown is located at the intersection of Illinois Routes 16 and 29, and Highway 51. The downtown was once the thriving center of a town built around coal mines and the railroads that served the area. After the coal mining boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a large amount of land was used for the cultivation of roses in greenhouses. The City of Pana became one of the largest producers and distributors of roses in the United States and ever since, has been known as the “City of Roses.”

 

Today, Pana is located primarily in the southeast corner of Christian County, with a small portion of the City and Lake Pana in Shelby County. The City of Pana is the recipient of a Research in Illinois to Spur Economic Recovery (RISE) Grant. The RISE program awards grantees with funds to create an Economic Recovery Plan which will provide guidance to the City as it recovers from the COVID-19 Pandemic. The focus of this Economic Recovery Plan is the downtown core of Pana, shown on the map in red.