Engineering Firm Hired for Boulder Creek

There's movement in the direction of Boulder Creek on The Hill, the STAR bonds development on Marion's northwest side.

The Southern Illinoisan editorialized yesterday calling for readers to continue supporting the destination development.

The editorial didn't provide any new details, not surprising since no reporter has actually talked with the developers on the record for any of the stories over the past week. All have simply reworded the news releases sent to them.

I agree with the overall tone for the editorial. There's too much at stake to start getting hypercritical. Patience people, patience, should have been the headline.

One intriguing bit: "Holland also announced the development will be named Boulder Creek at The Hill, a name so specific it must be linked to an investor's requirement."

I don't know if that is the case or just speculation. The Hill part of the name obviously goes along with the earlier development by that name. The STAR Bonds district is mostly the land that was formally part of The Hill.

In last week's news release Brad Holland tied the name "Boulder Creek" to the region's many outdoor attractions, but let's face it, it's a perfect home for a Cabela's or Bass Pro Shop, not to mention a Great Wolf Lodge, all of which have been mentioned as potential major anchors for the development. The first two would make up one of the "destination users" required for the the district (there's no way of expecting both of those to locate in the same development). The third would more than meet the requirements for the "destination hotel" requirement.

This afternoon the Southern posted details from the latest news release from the developers at Millennium Development LLC. They've hired SCI Engineering, out of O'Fallon, Ill., to do "due diligence research" on the property in the STAR Bonds district.

SCI Engineering started out Soil Consulting, Inc., back in 1978. It has three offices in the St. Louis region, plus a fourth in Rolla, Mo., and employs 150.

The firm will have their work cut out for them. The area set aside for the STAR Bonds District is riddled with former coal mines, both underground and strip mines. Not even the state has definite knowledge of what mines existed, particularly in the northern part of the district closer to Longstreet Road.

Here's a bit more from the company website:

From its beginning, the company has provided geotechnical and construction services to architect and engineering design professionals. Over the past 33 years, capabilities have been added in environmental, natural resources, and cultural resources to provide a full suite of consulting services, to better meet the needs of our clients.

The staff prides itself on the ability to provide consulting services with quality, professionalism, and responsiveness to clients during the development, design, and construction phases of projects. The company’s success is attributed to our team of highly skilled and experienced staff that includes geotechnical engineers, geologists, archaeologists, earth scientists, construction experts, and engineering technicians. The ability to develop innovative and cost-effective design solutions is not only a result of the diversity and experience of our staff, but also the commitment between different service groups to work as a team to provide our clients with quality consulting services.