Carterville Eyes New June Festival

The Carterville Heritage & Preservation Commission wants a new summer festival according to the Southern Illinoisan online.

The new festival is scheduled for the weekend of June 1-2. A planning meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall

Festival volunteers are needed and a kick-off meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday in city hall, 101 S. Division St. Some of the events being planned include a “Battle of the Bands” contest, a washer tournament, kids races and a flower/art show, [Carterville Consultant Jennifer] Spence said.

Money raised from the two-day event will go to the Carterville Heritage & Preservation Foundation. Local and civic organizations and churches have a fund-raising opportunity through vendor booth offerings, Spence said.

Southern Illinois State Historic Sites Slashed

Southern Illinois may have been spared cuts to its state parks, but no state historic sites south of Interstate 70 will be left opened after Oct. 1.

The Rockford Register-Star provides the full list:

• Cahokia Courthouse, Cahokia: The site will close Oct. 1 but will open on a limited basis for special events. It is currently open five days per week, and had 8,414 visitors in 2007.


• Fort de Chartres, Prairie du Rocher: The site will close Oct. 1 but will open on a limited basis for special events. It is currently open five days per week, and had 38,100 visitors in 2007.


• Fort Kaskaskia and Pierre Menard Home, Ellis Grove: These two sites, including the campground at Fort Kaskaskia, will close Oct. 1. These sites are currently open five days per week, and had 23,086 visitors in 2007.


• Vandalia Statehouse, Vandalia: The site will close Oct. 1 but will open on a limited basis for special events. It is currently open five days per week, and had 31,690 visitors in 2007.

Of course, it would be remiss if I didn't point out that there were already seven IHPA-owned historic sites in the region without any staff.

• Old Slave House - Purchased in 2000, never been reopened.


• Shawneetown Bank - State Bank of Illinois built in 1840, purchased by the state in 1946 and never been fully opened to the public.


• Old Rose Hotel - Oldest hotel in the state. First section built in 1812 following the New Madrid Earthquakes. Now operated as a concessionaire-leased bed and breakfast.


• Buel House - Golconda. Maintained and opened occasionally by the Pope County Historical Society.


• Kincaid Mounds - Brookport. Only recently have we had a viewing platform, site interpretation and a parking lot.


• Halfway Tavern - Marion County.


• Lincoln Trail State Memorial - Lawrenceville. Monument honors Lincoln and his family when the moved into Illinois. Luckily the National Park Service which operates the George Rogers Clark Memorial across the Wabash River at Vincennes, Indiana, comes over and mows the grass. It's currently getting a $19,700 facelift.

The only sites left are Cahokia Mounds in the MetroEast which will stay open 5 days a week.

Randolph County has an unemployment rate right now of 8.4 percent last month. It doesn't need to lose another 61,000 visitors-plus that go to these historic sites, two of which pre-date the American Revolution.

Likewise Fayette County too suffers an 8.4 percent unemployment rate and could have greatly benefited from 31,000-plus visitors coming to the state's third capitol building over the next 12 months while the nation celebrates the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth. Ironically, while most Lincoln sites were spared, this is one that wasn't and Lincoln served as a state representative in Vandalia.

These cuts aren't surprise. We've been warned they were coming all summer.

While this is obviously political, politics aside, the decline in funding and staffing has been an issue for the last three governors.

My only question is when is the state going to start looking at alternatives. Placing chains across a gate isn't a legitimate answer. It's just another problem that needs to be overcome.

Governor Considering Entry Fees for State Parks

Lee Enterprise's Kurt Erickson is reporting that Gov. Rod Blagojevich may push entry fees for state parks in Wednesday's budget address.

Although the final touches are still being made to the governor’s latest spending proposal, officials acknowledge they’ve considered imposing entrance fees at state parks as a way to balance the budget in tough financial times.

Details of what those fees might be were not available Monday and it’s not clear whether they would affect users of all of the state’s more than 100 state parks, forests and natural areas, most of which are located in downstate Illinois.

That may not actually be a bad thing, depending on the details.

Our system of state parks and historic sites are in crisis. Staffing levels at the various sites are at the lowest levels in decades. The Historic Sites Division of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency has lost around 40 percent of its staff in the last six or seven years. A number of sites are simply mothballed and barricaded off from the public.

I understand the desire of keeping free admissions so that everyone can participate regardless of income, but it's becoming increasingly clear that free access equals no access when there's no money.

In Southern Illinois in the counties along the Ohio River there are five IHPA sites and absolutely no state employees.

The Department of Natural Resources faces similar struggles with state parks though not as severe.

Like the current proposals from the U.S. Forest Service for fees on the Shawnee National Forest it's not the overall concept that's worrisome, it will be in the details.

I made this argument a decade ago and have repeated it ever since now through three governors: It's ridiculous to take a site such as the Old Slave House (which was once privately operated with admissions) and keep it closed because there's no money for staffing yet while there's enough interest to draw large crowds that would pay to enter the facility.

The same admission price wouldn't work for all sites. A market driven approach based on interest and operating costs much like California's approach should be used. There it costs much more to visit major sites such as the 115-room Hearst Castle ($20 to $30 for adults depending on the tour and the season) than it does to visit the Gold Rush museum at Sutter's Fort historic site ($4 for adults).

In Illinois there could be one price for Lincoln sites in Springfield, or one ticket for parks and sites in other tightly knit areas.

If the governor moves forward with this it's also time to look at merging the Historic Sites Division of IHPA with the Division of Land Management in DNR as well as the state museums into one site-based agency.

This may be brought about due to budgetary constraints, but there's larger problems out there that could be solved at this time if a big picture approach was taken.

Maybe we'll be surprised Wednesday. I just hope the issues of parks and historic sites will finally be addressed.

Federal Funding Announced for Scenic Byways

Southern Illinois will receive a good chunk of $2 million in federal funds announced yesterday for scenic byways in the state. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin's office released the details Thursday.

According to Durbin's office the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has awarded the following National Scenic Byways Discretionary Grants to the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) for the Ohio River Scenic Byway.

• Pulaski County — $262,561 in funding for the design and construction of an overlook of the Ohio River including parking, a walkway, an overlook platform, landscaping, interpretive signs and directional signs.
  
  
• Cairo — $275,000 in funding for the re-creation and re-construction of Fort Defiance as it existed during the Civil War. Fort Defiance was used by General Grant to lead the great Western Campaign of the Civil War. This funding will be used as part of a $2.6 million park improvement program by the City of Cairo.
  
  
• Southeastern Illinois — $25,000 in funding for the implementation of the Corridor Management Plan which will enable the byway coordinator to coordinate and manage initiatives and projects while developing a marketing plan to promote the byway.

In addition to these projects funds were awarded to the Historic National Road byway which runs through Vandalia and three projects for the Meeting of the Great Rivers Byway in the St. Louis MetroEast area.

Marion Receives Public Preservation Grant

The governor's office is announcing that Marion and Carbondale will receive nearly $8,000 in historic preservation grants. The awards are part of eight announced yesterday for communities around the state.

Marion will receive $4,900 for a public education campaign involving the development and creation of a local landmarks brochure, publication of articles, public service announcements, property owner education, and cooperative interaction with the Williamson County Tourism Bureau.

Carbondale will receive $2,975 for a historic preservation awards program, as well as a tram tour of historic neighborhoods with an accompanying brochure highlighting the city’s most significant cultural resources.

Marion's proposal includes development of a brochure for both the existing 24 designated historic homes, as well as those in a proposed historic district stretching along South Market Street.

Part of the grant will help promote the awareness of historic sites in the city. In addition the city's Historic Preservation Commission will work us here at the tourism bureau to help develop and promote heritage tourism in the city.

Marion's Director of Economic Development Gail West wrote the grant submitted on behalf of the city.

Communities that have achieved Certified Local Government status under the National Historic Preservation Act were encouraged to apply for $45,935 in grant funds that are available this fiscal year through the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA). These federal funds are specifically earmarked for local grants in the areas of public preservation and development.

The federal grant funds administered by IHPA were awarded on a matching basis, with the federal funds paying for up to 70 percent of project costs and local funds making up the remainder. The projects must relate to historic preservation and could include planning, public education workshops and heritage publications, National Register of Historic Places property listings, and development.

"The Certified Local Government program allows municipalities and counties to participate as partners in state and federal preservation activities," said Catherine O’Connor, Certified Local Government program administrator for IHPA. "Currently, we work with 62 such communities in all regions of the state."

Other communities will receive funds for the following programs:

ROCK ISLAND will receive $11,666 to reprint popular and extensive architectural and historical walking tour brochures that highlight the city’s recent “Preserve America” project. These brochures emphasize the Centennial Bridge, Mississippi River heritage attractions, and other heritage tourism sites.

EDWARDSVILLE will receive $7,028 to design and produce a guide featuring the city-owned Colonel Benjamin Stephenson House. The guide will be used to train educators to interpret the house for elementary students.

URBANA was awarded $3,150 for a day-long workshop with a lecture and demonstration by Bob Yapp, a nationally-recognized preservation expert. His hands-on, multi-media presentation will address the proper care and repair of windows in historic structures, as well as working with lead paint in historic properties.

MARENGO will receive $2,216 to produce a guide that highlights locally designated landmarks with descriptions and photos. They will also produce a brochure that helps residents better understand the landmark and historic district program and procedures.

WILL COUNTY was awarded $7,000 to develop brochures that provide a general overview of the function and role of the Historic Preservation Commission in Will County, as well as landmark designation information with a list of the County’s significant historic resources.

CHICAGO will receive $7,000 to develop and make 30,000 copies of the 2007 Chicago Landmarks Map Brochure, one of the City’s most widely available public information resources, which will be updated to include new local historic landmarks designated in 2006.

Historians Pleased With Trail of Tears Designation

The Southern Illinoisan's Dixie Terry follows up on the recent state designation of the Trail of Tears through Illinois with an interview with Gary Hacker, president of the Johnson County Genealogical and Historical Society.

Leaders in Pope, Union and Johnson counties joined together in the past year to write letters of endorsement to legislators encouraging passage of the bill. "This shows what can be done - it gives us an opportunity to preserve our history," Hacker said. "Future generations will be made more aware of the Trail of Tears, following the legislation."

Hacker and others anticipate an increase in tourism in the area, thanks to the recently passed legislation. "The story needs to be told," he added.

Check out the full story at TheSouthern.com website.

Trail of Tears Updates

The Cherokee Trail of Tears is a part of Southern Illinois' history that it not well-marked or widely known. That's due in part to the fact that we are the only state along the trail that does not have an interpretive center along the route to educate tourists to the history.

While there is an effort underway to rectify that situation, two recent developments should help in the future.

The first comes from SIU. Geophysicist Harvey Henson just received a $30,000 grant to search for unmarked Cherokee graves presumably near Campground Church in eastern Union County near Anna.

The National Park Service and the University are roughly splitting the cost for the study, which researchers hope will identify the graves of Cherokee who died in Southern Illinois during the 1838-39 Trail of Tears forced relocation.

Stories passed down through generations said German settlers allowed the Cherokee to bury their dead in the cemetery during the harsh winter that trapped them in the area. Some records indicate about 400 Cherokee died here, but other reports claim the dead numbered up to 4,000.

Last year, Henson began searching the two-acre cemetery with instruments that allow researchers to peer beneath the seemingly undisturbed ground for indications of gravesites. Using magnetic, electric conductivity and ground-penetrating radar instruments, the team confirmed the existence of up to three unmarked graves in a relatively small part of it.

For more information check out the entire news release.

The second event also took place over the fall veto session of the Illinois legislature when they made Route 148 the official state historic route of the Cherokee Trail of Tears. The Southern has the story.

The National Park Service designated this this official auto route of the national historic trail back in the 1990s, but the state had never followed suit. This will help with future grant applications.