It’s over a year since steelmaking giant ArcelorMittal announced it was closing its plant in Hennepin, Illinois (see Newstips in June and September), and the community still refuses to yield on its demand for full consideration of alternatives.

Now the Peoria Star Journal reports that the Putnam County Board has voted to study options for redeveloping the steel mill, which the paper calls “the economic backbone of the Upper Illinois River Valley.”

One option to be considered is public acquisition through eminent domain or condemnation, according to the report. The county has hired Neal and LeRoy, a Chicago law firm with expertise in those areas, to study alternatives.

Just forty years old, the steel mill is one of the most modern in the nation. Several domestic steelmakers have expressed interest in acquiring it, but ArcelorMittal has refused to accept their offers.  Steelworkers charge the plant closing is part of a strategy to shift steel production  overseas.