Marion Council Considers Ideas for Old City Hall

The Marion City Council discussed three competing proposals Monday night for the 114-year-old for former City Hall building. Options range from a micro-brewery, a pizzeria or a full-service restaurant. The discussion took place in close session and not in public as it dealt with the possible sale of city-owned real estate. No action was taken afterwards.

The Marion Republican has the story.

Butler said three individuals, all from Marion, have approached the city with the different ideas for how the old building could be used. He did not name the individuals but said the council seems to be favoring one of the ideas. 

"We had three proposals, and I think we are pretty settled on one, but we haven't taken any official action," Butler said on Tuesday. He added the city will make an announcement shortly, either at the next council meeting in two weeks, or even before then.

The building sits in the northeastern corner of the square at 100 Tower Square Plaza. Built in 1903, the Marion State and Savings Bank used the first floor while the city had its offices on the second. When the bank built what is now the Citadel Building on the west side of the square in 1914, the city purchased the building and moved operations to the main floor.

The Marion police utilized rooms upstairs for years as the city police station before eventually moving to the ground floor in the north half of the building. The northeast corner of the basement housed the city jail. The city moved out of the building to larger offices in the current City Hall on the east side of the square in August 1993.

This is the third round of trying to find someone to refurbish and find a use for the old building since the Marion Living magazine closed up shop. Of the three suggestions, a microbrewery would likely have the most impact in bringing additional visitors to the city.

Although this is not the first proposal for a microbrewery in the city (one progressed a few years ago to the point of meeting with city officials on what changes would need to be made in the city's liquor ordinance to allow one), if selected, this proposal for one would be the first one of its kind to open in the county and would fit with the ongoing development of a downtown entertainment and nightlife district.

Demolition Starts at Marion's Old Executive Inn

No more outside wall on the east side of the former Holiday Inn.

A Marion tourism landmark shuttered for the last 13 years will finally be coming down. Crews were seen working today on tackling the outer walls of the former 200-room hotel. The hotel was one of a number of Holiday Inn franchises built and operated by Carbondale developer Stan Hoye. The Carbondale hotel opened in 1968 and was demolished last year.

The Marion hotel opened in June 1969 with 100 rooms, two swimming pools, the Five O'Clock Club cocktail lounge, a restaurant with a dining capacity of 100 and banquet facilities for 250. After losing its original franchise it operated briefly as a Travelodge before shifting to its final name of Executive Inn.

In January 2004, a judge ordered the hotel closed when the owner at the time failed to fix numerous life-safety code violations. The state fire marshal's office found 27 violations in 2002. When they re-inspected the building in December 2003 they still found a dozen violations including the lack of a sprinkler system. Although an official at the time suggested the order was only temporary if the building could be brought into compliance, he doubted it would be due to the high cost.

It's fate may have been sealed a few months later when the Fairfield Inn opened on The Hill. Built at a time decades earlier when it dominated the county's hospitality industry, newer hotels and restaurants proved to be too much competition. As late as 2000, the hotel operations generated only a fraction of what its competitors could do, about one-fifth of Drury Inn's take and coming in ninth among the Marion establishments, even behind the Motel 6 and the Super 8. By 2003, its taxable revenues had been cut in half again.

Back in December 2007, then owner Dr. Yuseph Ta told the Southern Illinoisan he planned a $4 million renovation that would cut the hotel down to a 100-room Garden Inn. City officials proved lukewarm to that idea and privately suggested condemnation would be a better idea.

Former Marion Harley-Davidson dealer Phil Campbell later bought the property and planned to redevelop it, at least until the Great Recession slowed the local economy. A check of land records shows that he appears to have sold the parcel to JMB Development last summer on August 30, 2016. The sales price of $3.1 million comes to about $10.30 a square foot if the 7.33 acres amount is correct on the county's GIS maps. Vacant land in that area and Halfway Road has been going for around $15/sq. ft. for the last decade.

It's not certain what demolition of the hotel would cost, but a figure of $400,000 was bandied about a decade ago which was one of the key reasons why the city didn't try to condemn and demolish it themselves.

The new company, owned by Marion contractor Jerry Barrass, had previously bought the former Wolohan property along Halfway and the former Morgan Avenue, now The Hill Avenue.

With the development of the expanded I-57 interchange and the new access road into the land behind the old Holiday Inn, three new developments have targeted the area, raising prices as the amount of vacant land runs low. IHOP purchased its 1-acre tract for $500,940, at a bargain price of $11.50/sq. ft. to help kick off the development spree. BB Management LLC, the owner of the new Culvers, paid $750,000 for 1.08 acres, or around $14.76/sq. ft.

Across the street to the south in May of last year JMB Development sold the 1.71 acre easternmost portion of the Wolohan property to the owners of the Mach 1 convenience store that will soon open for just under $1.2 million, or $16/sq. ft.

The city created the Hillview TIF District for the area to help reimburse development costs which can include acquisition costs, demolition, rebah of structures should the development company decide to keep any of the old hotel, as well as extension of the access road onto the property on the north side of Illinois Route 13. The Southern quoted city officials last spring indicating $27 million in private investment was heading to the area. The only project hinted at, but not named so far, has been a possible hotel development.

$11.17 Million in Commercial Projects Underway in Marion

Well over $11 million in commercial projects have been permitted or broken ground this spring on Marion's west side along all three exits.

While city officials mentioned Culver's was looking at Marion last month, owners of the new restaurant took out a building permit on June 1 for their new 4,473 sq. ft. restaurant at 2607 Blue Heron Drive, immediately east of the IHOP now under construction. It's valued at $1,450,000. However as Wednesday they had not filed a deed for the lot.

Culver's becomes the fourth restaurant under construction (or at least about to be) in Marion.

The new IHOP up on The Hill at 2607 The Hill Ave. comes in at $1,116,000. They took out their building permit on March 10.

Around the corner at 1309 Halfway Road just north of Krispy Kreme, Kidds Restaurants Inc.has begun construction of a new Jimmy John's. That project is just $200,000. They've had their permit since Feb. 5.

Down the road Marion's third Dairy Queen at 1300 Redco Rd. next to Marion Toyota is finally enclosed. This $850,000 building was permitted Feb. 3. 

The restaurants are joined by two new convenience stores and a large car wash.

The city's fourth Huck's convenience store at 2700 W. Main St. near Exit 53 is going up quickly. Carmi-based Martin & Bayley took out a building permit the new $1,050,000 store at the corner of Halfway and Main on April 11.

Meyer Oil Co. which has recently expanded into deep Southern Illinois with locations in Harrisburg and Herrin took out a building permit on May 25 for a new Mach 1 convenience store at 2603 The Hill Ave. which is on the south side of the former Morgan Avenue backed up to the old shuttered Executive Inn. That one is a $2.8 million project.

The largest project this spring has been NLB Properties's new Finishline Carwash which will take the place of Ryan's Steakhouse. The old building is down and the new one going up is a $3.7 million project.

Smaller projects in the older sections of town include a $300,000 expansion to Erica's Doggie Stylez at 1012 W. Main St. for pet boarding and training and a $150,000 building at 505 E. College St. northeast of Family Video for a new fitness center.

According to the Southern Illinoisan, the city is looking at even more development particularly in the area of The Hill which would include additional restaurants (Buffalo Wild Wings is what's been mentioned the most), office and retail space as well as a $10 million hotel. In total $27 million in private investment is expected in a new TIF district being created south of The Hill Ave.

Other than the Mach 1 station most of those projects have not been identified and could be spread out over the next three years.

Construction Begins on New Huck's in Marion

Martin & Bayley has broken ground for a new Huck's Convenience Store at the site of the old Poe Skating Rink at 2700 W. Main St. at the intersection of Main and Halfway Road.

The City of Marion issued their building permit on April 11 for a $1.05 million building. The Carmi-based company which has operated in Marion since at the mid 1970s purchased the property a year ago on May 28, 2015, for $375,000.

This will be the company's fourth store operating in Marion, and it's sixth location used in town.

The firm, named for the late founding partners, Bob Martin and Frank Bayley, dates to 1960 when they began operating supermarkets in small communities across Southern Illinois and eventually expanding into Kentucky and Tennessee. They opened the first Huck's convenience store in Grayville, Illinois, in 1974. Since 2001 the company has been employee owned.

Other than Huck's it was a slow month for building permits in the city. The other major projects include Brokton Webb's $340,000 4-plex at 909 E. Carter St. and Lee Webb's $250,000 project for storage units at 700 N. Main St. The remaining projects are for a double-wide mobile home and two garages.

Overall, the city approved permits totaling $1.783 million in the month of April.

It looks another development will be heading to that area, J. E. Mayer LLC, the corporate owner of the land where Marion Toyota Auto Body operates on Cree Drive, just purchased the vacant Lot 8 immediately to their west this Tuesday, May 3. They paid approximately $3/square foot, or $103,629 for the .79 acre lot on the northeast corner of Cree Drive and Halfway Road.

That's the same price per square foot that Jellen Enterprises paid for slightly larger Lot 15 last Aug. 15, for the new Huddle House restaurant.

Plans to Reopen State Museum Ignore Region

The director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources says the Illinois State Museum could reopen in a matter of weeks if lawmakers approve Gov. Bruce Rauner's amendatory veto of Senate Bill 317 sent to the governor last December. The General Assembly passed the legislation requiring the governor to reopen and operate the museum and its branch sites at Dickson Mounds, Freeport, Rend Lake and Chicago.

The amendatory veto replaced the list of branch sites to reopen with the language, "branch sites determined by the Department of Natural Resources in collaboration with local units of government and other public and private entities."

That would mean the addition sites Southern Illinois Art & Artisans Center at Rend Lake wouldn't automatically reopen, just the Springfield one. Apparently it would require some local partnerships to guarantee the Southern Illinois facility's future.

Rauner also added a sentence that authorizes DNR and the Board of the Illinois State Museum to "solicit the assistance of the Illinois State Museum Society to fundraise non-State resources for the museum and to provide operational assistance to the museum."

Currently the non-profit group just operates the bookstore and handles a few research issues. This would be a major change for the entity, but one that has been needed for some time.

The governor's third change would deal with admission fees. The legislation authorized the department to charge a fee, but one set by administrative rule, a time-consuming process. Rauner's change would allow the agency director to not only set the fee, but also allow different fees for different classes of visitors, such as a cheaper rate for students or groups.

DNR Director Wayne Rosenthal spoke to reporters about the change today.

Rosenthal said no decision has been made about the size of the admission fees, but Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, said he thought a fee of $5 for adults was reasonable. Rosenthal said that would put Illinois in line with surrounding states that charge admission fees to their state museums.

Rosenthal also said that going forward, the museum would work in partnership with private organizations to raise addition funds for the museum. He said there is no target amount for how much must be raised between the admission fees and private donations.

The museum and related facilities around the state closed in September because of the state’s budget crunch. However, unionized state employees there have remained on the job because of a pending lawsuit in St. Clair County challenging layoffs of state workers.

As part of the agreement to reopen the museum, Rosenthal said facilities in Chicago and Rend Lake would close — saving the state about $1 million.

Apparently there's been no progress about finding partnerships in Southern Illinois. That's a shame. It's time for the Rend Lake Conservancy District, DNR and Cedarhurst Center for the Arts in Mount Vernon to step up to the plate.

Movie Shot in Southern Illinois Releases Trailer

Dig Two Graves, the independent film shot in Southern Illinois in 2013, finally released its first trailer Sunday. The movie is a Gothic thriller with a supernatural bent.

A crew filmed at a number of scenic locations across the region including Ferne Clyffe State Park, Mermet Springs and the Tunnel Hill State Trail. The downtowns of Marion and Vienna doubled for the fictional setting of Egypt, Illinois.

Other historic sites utilized included the old school in Grand Chain, "Shot" Winchester's second tavern down at Olmstead, Civil War Era Congressman A. J. Kuykendall's antebellum house in Vienna, as well as Prohibition Era Congressman E. E. Denison's house, Goddard Chapel and the Williamson County Jail Museum, all in Marion.

The film is directed by Hunter Adams and produced by P.J. Fishwick and Claire Connelly.

Ted Levine, Samantha Isler and Danny Goldring star in the movie.




DIG TWO GRAVES trailer from Hunter McLean Adams on Vimeo.

City of West Frankfort to Buy Outlet Mall

West Frankfort city officials have contracted to purchase the Factory Outlet Store of America mall on the city's west side from its California-based owner.

A deal was signed last week according to reporting by the new Frankfort American, a twice-weekly newspaper sponsored by Morthland College that's only in its fifth issue.

The city has 60 days to review the building and terms before closing on the deal, details of which have not been released. Officials including Mayor Tom Jordan has spent the last two months negotiating the deal for the 25-year-old mall.

Colliers International has been marketing the outlet mall with a sales price of $2,050,000. The building has 91,063 sq. ft. of leasable area which gives it an asking price of $22.51/sq. ft.

The mall is about two-thirds rented and anchored by VF Outlet.

The paper reports that the city hopes to keep the existing retail stores inside and add other retailers or business that wouldn't interfere with retail. Following the success of their industrial incubator building they hope to continue that model to add more retail development both inside the mall as well as development of the entire 20-acre tract will the mall sits.

The mall is owned by DeSantis Properties of Fresno, California, which did not respond to calls by the paper.

Ironically and historically, there's a tie between the DeSantis name (but certainly not the company in this case) and the city. In 1920, a seriously deranged Sicilian named Settimi DeSantis and another man killed two teen boys in some woods south of Royalton, across the county line in Williamson County.

The killings, believed by the public to have been the work of the Black Hand, led to the West Frankfort Race Riot which targeted Italians living in the city. It took the National Guard to restore order. Williamson County prosecuted both men for murder. DeSantis' accomplice hung himself during the trial in the county jail (now the Williamson County Jail Museum). The jury found DeSantis guilty and hung him on a vacant lot on the east side of the square behind what's now John Brown's on the Square.

Hat tip to Jeff Webb, a former staffer of the old West Frankfort Daily American and a photographer with the new paper. He stopped by to talk to me yesterday at my Giant City Lodge book signing and told me about the story and the publication.

He also pointed me toward the new Main Street Baking Co. & Mercantile at 328 E. Main St. in West Frankfort. Of this afternoon it's now carrying books published and distributed by IllinoisHistory.com.

Besides rolling in the dough with loaves of fresh bread and sandwiches they offer everything your sweet tooth desires, except donuts. For that they will point you down the street.

That's Owner Darla Dawson on the right and her manager, Esther Willis, on the left. The Benton Evening News had a nice profile piece on Darla earlier this summer.

Huddle House Developer Files Deed

Although Robert Jellen, developer of Marion's new Huddle House, took out a building permit two months ago on June 19, the deed for land nestled among Comfort Suites, Quality Inn and and Best Western wasn't filed until last week on Aug. 12.

The county clerk and recorder's website shows a sales price of $124,407.00 for Lot 15 of Cree Commercial Subdivision. That comes to $3/sq. ft. for the .95 acre tract at the corner of Comfort Drive and Henry Drive.

The eatery will be located on the second lot to the north of 20s Hideout Steakhouse and Bar.

For more on the restaurant check out the earlier blog post, "Huddle House headed for Marion."

Last of Herrin Massacre Bus Tours Takes Off Saturday

If you ever wanted to learn more about the Herrin Massacre now is the time. Our last tour of the summer will be Saturday starting at 9 a.m. with the bus leaving from the Williamson County Jail Museum at 105 S. Van Buren St. in Marion.

S.I. Treasure Tours conducts the tours and yours truly, Jon Musgrave of IllinoisHistory.com and the Southern Illinois Tourism News blog, serves as the guide. The tour includes visits to the jail museum, Station Carbondale railroad museum and the Herrin City Cemetery, as well as lunch at an area historic site.

Go to www.TreasureToursSI.com to reserve your seats now.

Huddle House headed for Marion

Just when I was saying to myself how West Main Street in Marion didn't have many restaurants, compared to other major streets in the city like Court Street, somebody went and done something about it.

Now this was back in February when I first heard the news, but it's official now. Marion is slated for a new Huddle House at 305 Comfort Drive off of West Main Street. Owner Robert Jellen took out a city building permit June 19, though no deed has been filed yet. It will be two lots north of the 20s Hideout and across the street from the new Sunshine Gardens assisted living facility that will be opening soon.

The permit gives a construction value of $850,000, which is actually a bit less than the new Krispy Kreme franchise which broke ground in June as well. The June 4 permit for that project showed it valued at $900,000.

Back in February the developer of the new Huddle House had been looking at the former Shell service station location in between 7th Street and Interstate 57 on the north side of West Main. The station, which was torn down last year, operated independently as Fuel Mart. Since then I'd heard he'd changed his attention to the west side of the interstate.

If you're wondering just what is a Huddle House, you're in for a treat if you've not dined at the one in Paducah, or the fairly new one in Greenville, Illinois, on your way to Springfield. According to the frequently asked questions on its franchising site, a "Huddle House is a Southern-style dining experience and community gathering spot that has been serving comfort food at a great value for five decades. At Huddle House, we serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, and our motto is 'Any Meal. Any Time.'"

It's basically a modern, better decorated Waffle House, and the food is good - at least the one in Greenville is.

The restaurant is believed to be going on Lot 15 of Cree Commercial Subdivision, which contains .95 acres, slightly larger than the narrow .74-acre gas station lot on the other side of the interstate. The typical freestanding Huddle House restaurant is usually fairly narrow itself, usually "2,200 square feet on a lot between 25,000 and 30,000."

The company recommends a minimum traffic count of 12,000 vehicles a day. West Main Street offers 15,100 in front of the site and 25,900 cars pass over Main Street everyday on Interstate 57, according to the state's traffic count, which shows at least two-year data from 2013. They also suggest an area with at least 12,000 population within five miles, which Marion surpasses.

Huddle House celebrated its 50th anniversary last year with 34 new restaurants opening, 10 of which were new construction like the Marion one.

Typically open 24-hours, Huddle House serves breakfast, lunch and dinner all day. The menu offers a mix of Southern inspired comfort food, including signature Big House breakfasts, crispy hash browns, creamy grits, golden waffles and fluffy omelets, all made to order. Other favorites include Big Bold Burgers, Big House sandwich platters, country fried steak with green beans and marinated grilled chicken with sweet potato fries.

The core values on which Huddle House was founded – serving quality food in a warm, friendly environment that brings the community together – remain intact today.

If the new restaurant operates 24 hours a day, it would join the interstate McDonalds and Steak 'n Shake as the only 24/7 eateries in town.

Huddle House isn't the only new development heading for West Main Street and Halfway. More on that tomorrow or so.

New Hotel Aims for Downtown Carbondale

Construction of a new 85 unit, 4 or 5 story Home2 Suites hotel in downtown Carbondale could take place by the end of the year.

The hotel will be located on just under an acre of vacant property on the north side of Elm Street stretching from Illinois to University Avenues. About 60 percent of the rooms will be extended stay suites and developers plan a coffee shop on the ground floor as well. Today's Southern Illinoisan has the story. This story the day before provides a bit more information.

The Carbondale City Council approved the sale of the .9617 acre lot to Sai Krishna LLC of Carbondale last night. Closing is to take place within 30 days and be "substantially" complete within 18 months.

The council sold the property at a bargain price of $75,000 which is just $1.79/sq. ft., significantly less than commercial property on the eastern outskirts of the city. However securing a quality hotel in the heart of the city has long been a part of the community leader's plans for decades and even predate the current city hall structure.

The land includes a parking lot, a vacant lot and a half-block city alley. It's immediately south of PK's bar in the 200 block of South Illinois Avenue.



An earlier story quoted city officials on the demand for a hotel.

Carbondale Assistant City Manager Gary Williams said the city had a hotel feasibility study performed in 2013 and found that it would be a favorable and economically feasible project.

Williams said when the project was complete, the city garnered interest immediately. He said the location on West Elm between University and Illinois avenues is a solid location.

“It is positioned a little over a half mile from SIU and it is less than that from SIH,” he said. “Those are two of the biggest demand generators in our region.

At Tuesday's council meeting Curtis Conley, who is both manager of PK's and president of the Carbondale Music Coalition, strongly supported the hotel. Ditto for Southern Illinois Healthcare President Rex Budde who said the development would benefit the hospital.

The development company Sai Krishna LLC registered with the Secretary of State's office earlier this year on March 6. The state lists Pradeep Reddy of Carbondale and Naresh Patel of Harrisburg as managers with Reddy also serving as the LLC's agent of record.

A few years ago Reedy and his wife donated three acres of land for the region's first Hindu temple at 1209 E. Walnut St. and has served as president of Hindu Temple and Cultural Society of Southern Illinois. Patel operates the Comfort Inn and Super 8 hotels in Harrisburg.

The new lodging development comes after a rash of much needed older hotel/motel demolitions in Jackson County.

The old Best Inns of America motel, last operating as the Unicity Inn east of the University Mall has recently made way for a new IHOP restaurant that broke ground in April. Developers paid $875,000 for the tract which will also include, "3,000 square feet for another “fast-casual” themed restaurant and 10,000 square feet of retail."

The city is also working on demolishing the former Horizon Inn, originally the city's first Holiday Inn, on Main Street. The city took ownership of the three parcels for around $2,000 and is looking for a develop who will demolish the building and redevelop the land.

In Murphysboro, the Southern Illinoisan reported yesterday that the Apple Tree Inn at the intersection of Routes 13 and 127 in Murphysboro has a new owner. The motel closed earlier June 1 following a foreclosure sale earlier in the day by the Jackson County Circuit Clerk. Joe Koppeis of Columbia, won the auction with a bid of $125,000.

Koppeis is the owner of the Holiday Inn in Sparta, the real estate company Admiral Parkway Inc., four shopping centers, hardware stores and a Domino’s franchise throughout Southern Illinois.

Murphysboro Mayor Will Stephens said he has been in contact with Koppeis, but knows there aren’t any concrete plans. He said Koppeis is commissioning a few studies to determine what would be the most feasible for the location.

Although Stephens is in the dark about what may be coming, he said the developer does have plans to demolish the building.

Dig Two Graves Clip Features Tunnel Hill State Trail

Dig Two Graves, the movie that filmed in multiple Southern Illinois locations in 2013, has hit the festival circuit, before it returns (hopefully) later this year for a screening.

Meanwhile as the producers get ready for their Los Angeles premiere Sunday at the historic TCL Chinese Theaters as part of the Dances with Films festival, director/screenwriter Hunter Adams has released a teaser clip online.

Dig Two Graves Teaser clip from Hunter McLean Adams on Vimeo.

Besides the Tunnel Hill State Trail, the film also used Ferne Clyffe State Park, Mermet Springs, downtown Marion and Vienna, the Goddard Chapel in Marion, a school in Grand Chain, the Williamson County Jail Museum in Marion, a bar near Olmstead, a house near Mill Creek and the moonshiners shack near the lower Big Muddy River.

The production also used the homes of two former Southern Illinois Congressmen, the E. E. Denison House in Marion, now Mimosa Manor gift shop on Cherry Street, and the A. J. Kuykendall House in Vienna. Denison served during Prohibition in the 1920s. Kuykendall served during the Civil War.

For more on the film, which is a tale of the woes of vengeance, check out their Facebook page which has all the latest updates, the website DigTwoGraves.com, as well as their IMDb page to check out some of the Southern Illinoisans who joined the cast and crew.

The film takes place during 1977 (with frequent flashbacks to 1947) in the fictional town of Egypt, Illinois. There's even a Charlie Birger reference early in the film, although the Miss Cheeserilla pageant that takes place is one of the few references to the director's native Wisconsin and the North Woods where the film was originally set.

Walkers Bluff Casino?

In an apparent effort to attract downstate votes for a new Chicago casino a new wrinkle in the proposed legislation would allow casino gaming at Walkers Bluff and as well as a second place in Decatur.

Until last month, the general outlines of a plan included the new Chicago casino, as well as smaller casinos in southern Cook County, Rockford, Danville and Lake County.

But as the spring legislative session wound down last week, a new plan emerged that would bring smaller “satellite” casinos to central and Southern Illinois.

Each of those would have between 400 and 600 gaming positions.

Kurt Erickson of the Southern Illinoisan's Springfield bureau has the story.

I would link to the actual legislation, but it doesn't appear to have been filed yet. At least I could not find it on the General Assembly's website.

Walkers Bluff features Legends restaurant, gift shop and music venue. It has long claimed to be very much more than just a winery, but Southern Illinois' premiere entertainment venue. The article did not include any comment by the establishment's owners, Cynde and David Bunch.

In the interest of full disclosure I should point out that The General Store at Walkers Bluff is now carrying my books and others published or distributed by IllinoisHistory.com.

Budget War Claims First Casualties

Two days after Democratic lawmakers passed a budget some $4 billion out of whack, Gov. Bruce Rauner announced plans to shutter the Illinois State Museum and its five facilities as part of a series of wide-ranging cutbacks for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

In Southern Illinois that would mean the closing of the Southern Illinois Art and Artisans Center at Rend Lake off of Exit 77 on Interstate 57, as well as similar facilities in Lockport and Chicago, as well as the main state museum in Springfield and the Dickson Mounds museum and historic site.

The Rend Lake center's hours had already been cut to five days a week, open on just Wednesday through Sunday. The 15,000 square foot facility includes Artisans Shop and the Southern Illinois Art Gallery.

Greg Hines of Crain's Chicago Business has the full story.

The other regional site on the cutting block is the Hardin County Work Camp in the Department of Corrections which houses 180 inmates that are toward the end of their terms as well as 60 staff. Because it's a work camp, the impact will also be felt by area communities and local governments who rely on the free labor for cleanup projects. The inmates have been credited for helping save the village of Old Shawneetown more than once with their sandbagging.

Lawmakers are expected to return to Springfield in about two weeks for a summer overtime session to deal with a number of major issues including the budget, pension reform, various ways to improve the state's job climate to counter the needed tax increases that are expected to pass in the end, a capital projects bill as well as possible expansion of gambling.

Tuesday's move by the governor is just the latest skirmish in the budget battle, and is not likely to actually go into effect if a new balance budget is passed. However if lawmakers don't compromise then expect the cuts to stay and more to follow as the latest move only tallies up to $400 million in saving, just a tenth of what's needed.

The move comes two days after lawmakers passed SB 1728 over the weekend that would establish the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum as a separate agency and move the Illinois State Museum sites to Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Doug Finke and the State Journal-Register has the story.

More on that proposal can be found over at IllinoisHistory.com. Lawmakers had passed that version of the bill over a similar bill that would have moved the remaining parts of IHPA over to a new division of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity that would also include the state's tourism and film offices.

Another part of Tuesday's announcement included deferring any actions on new film production tax credits until the state's budget situation improved. It's a reasonable move that may or may not withstand the scrutiny of the state's courts considering the credits are part of the state's tax code.

The governor's announcement of all the cuts follows below:

Release

Legislation Would Move Historic Sites to DCEO

Plans could impact future of Old Slave House

While on WJPF-AM this morning talking about the new Twin Wars of the 20s tour from SI Treasure Tours, host Tom Miller asked about any updates on the Old Slave House.

There's nothing new locally that I can talk about, but at least in Springfield there's legislation that will shift the state's historic sites from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency into a new division within the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity that will include tourism, historic sites and the state's film office.

The bill would also spin off the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum into its own separate agency and allow DCEO to create a new public-private non-profit partnership to promote the state's economic development efforts.

The legislation (House Bill 574) has the support of Gov. Bruce Rauner as well as House Speaker Michael J. Madigan and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin. It's expected to pass though it's currently in the House Rules Committee.

Some agency folks in Springfield disagree with the move and I respect their positions, but the legislation offers a lot of possibilities for future improvement.

One thing I told Tom this morning about the new move is that the state tourism director, who I also think will be the head of this combined division, already knows about the house. More importantly, he knows how historic sites and tourism can intersect for economic development (and as a Springfield alderman, he's seen this firsthand.)

About a month ago I was in the Capitol in Springfield and had a chance to speak with Cory Jobe, the state's new tourism chief. He formerly served as chief of staff for Judy Baar Topinka in the state comptroller's office.

He remembered meeting me a number of years ago when I gave him a tour of the Old Slave House back when Ron Nelson, Gary DeNeal and I were still researching the site. I knew his name was familiar and that we had crossed paths somewhere else as well.

Back home I checked my notes and discovered that in December 2009 while working for the Southern Illinois Tourism Development Office, I was called to a meeting in Springfield with my regional counterparts, two people from the state tourism office as well as Cory and Maynard Crossman of Peoples Economic Development Corporation and Peoples National Bank to discuss a new historic preservation tax credit legislation that Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration was planning to back in the next session of the General Assembly.

Cory had come from Topinka's state treasurer office where he had worked on a tourism related program, and Crossman was the former director of IHPA for the last year or two of George Ryan's term.

I remember the meeting vividly because on the way to Springfield I turned on the radio and learned that FBI agents had been seen taking the governor out of his Chicago home in handcuffs. Talk about the elephant in the room an hour later during our meeting, or in this case, a donkey.

Needless to say the Blagojevich administration didn't push the tax credits bill very much that year so it didn't go anywhere. Over the years various versions of the legislation get re-introduced, each year a bit more watered down than the last. I sat in on a presentation last year at the Herrin Chamber of Commerce offices about the then latest version.

The current version of the legislation is House Bill 240.

One more item on the Old Slave House, for those who need a visible  reminder of the site, check out Ghosts  of Old Shawneetown's page of pictures from the house back in  the 1990s. 

Governor Names New State Fair Director

For the first time ever the DuQuoin State Fair will not have a separate fair manager.

Rather than appoint managers for Springfield and DuQuoin state fairs, Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration named Patrick Buchan, a Fulton County native, to oversee both state fairs in Springfield and DuQuoin.

Although it's a loss for Southern Illinois, considering the state's fiscal crisis, we're lucky to only lose the manager position rather than the entire fair.

The good news is that also for the first time an Illinois governor has actually appointed someone with experience in state fairs and producing major shows.

Buchen previously served as Executive Director of the Indiana State Fair, President of HSI Show Productions, and Executive Director of the Texas Longhorn Cattle Breeders Association.  He is certified in Exposition Management from the International Association of Exhibitions and Events, and the past chair for the International Association for Exhibition Management Foundation.  Buchen is a graduate of Monmouth College, where he holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics.  Buchen has a track record of boosting revenues while trimming unproductive expenditures. 

“As an event professional I have dealt with all facets of show management.  I truly believe to meet the demands of the event industry, creativity is paramount in order to present something new and fresh year after year while still delivering familiarity,” said Buchen.  “I love agriculture and the fair business, so becoming manager of the state fairs in Illinois is a dream come true.”

The above quote comes for the official news release from the Department of Agriculture.

Even more amazing, the governor is not quoted at all, the agency director is.

"I am confident that Patrick Buchen can effectively manage both state fair operations.  In this day and age of shared sacrifice, we at the Illinois Department of Agriculture are tightening our belts where we can, but at the same time preserve the traditions that Illinois residents enjoy at both state fairs,” said Ag Director Philip Nelson. “Patrick has both the agriculture experience and the fair experience that will really help him to showcase Illinois, specifically the state’s rich agricultural roots.”

The quote is too long for a proper news release. It should have been split in at least two paragraphs, however it's a marked improvement in agency communications. It also has two spaces after each period suggesting that the writer isn't familiar with the AP Style Guide and hasn't worked for a newspaper before.

In my experience dealing with state news releases they've been going downhill since Jim Edgar left office. Each succeeding administration has made an increasing number of gubernatorial quotes mandatory on almost every release. Everything the state did had to look like the governor cared and acted, when in reality, the man in office didn't even know anything about the subject matter being released.

Worst case - Rod Blagojevich being quoted extensively by the Department of Natural Resources when the man never visited a state park during his entire term of office. Someone in his administration even decided that the governor's name should be top and center on every state park brochure, even above the name of the state park rather than on the back like it had been for decades.

I'm off my soapbox now. Back to the subject at hand. Overall, this has every potential of actually working out in favor of DuQuoin and the region.

According to the State Journal-Register the DuQuoin State Fair lost $630,000 in FY 2012 and $595,000 in FY 2013, significantly less than the fair losses at Springfield.

Now if DNR can find similar management, or privatize the World Shooting Complex at Sparta, Southern Illinois might see better results at both state-owned sites.

New Life Coming to Town and Country

The former Town and Country Cinema building as of April 29, 2015

The old Town and Country Cinema which has sit empty for around two decades will soon see some new activity. Yesterday representatives of the Brooklyn, New York-based owners could be seen talking with their local long-time Realtor, J. David Thompson of Coldwell Banker Realty in the parking lot of the shopping center. Thompson later confirmed that the owners plan on remodeling the cinema.

Although he didn't share any details, the building is in the relatively new Hub TIF district the city created which encourages redevelopment of existing structures.

The last few years have not been kind to the structure. Part of the brick façade either fell down or was taken down after it separated from the block wall on the west end of the north side.

Kerasotes opened the west half of the building as the Town and Country Twin Cinema on Friday, April 11, 1975, to take the place of the old Orpheum Theatre downtown that the city restored and reopened as the Marion Cultural and Civic Center.

Bill Ivy managed the cinema at the time. On opening night patrons had their choice between the now-classic Young Frankenstein or the Four Musketeers. Tickets were just $2. Both theaters seated 240.

Two years later on March 13, 1977, Ivy, now a district supervisor for Kerasotes announced that the company would add two more theaters on the west side. At the time it would be the only four-plex Kerasotes operated. The two new theaters were planned to seat 238. The expanded complex opened later that summer.

The building suffered a small electrical fire on one of the men's restrooms in April 17, 1998, which caused theater-goers to be evacuated during the opening night of the "Babe" and "Beethoven"films.

Following the construction of the Illinois Center Mall, Kerasotes bought ground for a new theater in July 1992. The next summer in June 1993 Kerasotes started on their new 8-plex complex behind the mall with a planned opening date of Dec. 1, 1993. At the time Kerasotes planned to keep the old theater open, though that didn't last long.

The Town and Country Shopping Center first opened in stages in 1973. The May 29, 1982, tornado leveled the complex and it was rebuilt and a grand reopening was held early in 1983.

More Developments Aiming for Marion Besides IHOP

On Monday, Feb. 9, 2015, the parcels in red shifted to pending.

Put down that maple syrup for your anticipated IHOP pancakes, Marion may be getting another two new restaurants and a strip mall on the west side according to a rumor that came from a source who heard it second hand, and who wasn't connected with the city, the real estate industry, the construction business, let alone the actual developers.

Now normally, I wouldn't run with something this thin, except that last Monday the land in question went from active to pending in the Egyptian Board of Realtors' multiple listing service used by local Realtors such as myself. (I'm associated with Paul Wilson Realty, LLC here in Marion.)

That means it's under contract and likely to close.

I've put a few calls around today and apparently something is coming separate from the IHOP deal announced last month. Today's calls also indicated a fourth restaurant may be in the works though no one in the know is talking about actual names.

I've heard a few names over the last few weeks, but never anything concrete, or supposedly connected with this proposed development.

The land in question is 6.06 acres of Wolohan property on the east side of Halfway Road and south of Morgan Avenue The Hill Drive. It's listed for just under $3.96 million, or $15/sq. ft. which has been the going rate for that stretch of Halfway Road. Whether that stays true will be interesting. Gander Mountain's recent acquisition only came to $7/sq. ft., although that appears to have been a discount in order to get new attention to the area behind Menards.

In comparison, the original developers of the Fairfield Inn have recently listed their vacant land to the north of that hotel and to the west of Rent One Park. They're asking just under $1.6 million for the 3.66-acre tract which comes to $10/sq. ft.

The reputed new developers apparently are not interested in Wolohan's remaining 1.7 acre outlot across the new Volunteer Drive access road to the east. That listing is still active, rather than pending. Also not known is whether the developers have approached the owners of Marion Chevrolet-Cadillac about their vacant 2.2 acres immediately north of their dealership and immediately east of the concrete pad where the old Wolohan's Lumber building used to stand. It's acquisition isn't necessary, but it would square up the property lines to a point and bring the total land in play to just over 8 acres.

The land now pending would have access to Halfway Road on the west, The Hill Drive (formerly Morgan Avenue) to the north and Volunteer Drive, the new access road built last year to the east.

A few years ago Denny's had optioned the corner of Morgan and Halfway, but never closed on the deal.

Meanwhile as we wait on these developments we do know of one new restaurant that's definitely coming to Marion. It's a new Chinese eatery at the corner of Court and Boulevard across the street from Taco John's. It will be the seventh restaurant on Court.

Wei Chen LLC purchased the 14,000 sq. ft. tract at the corner on May 21, 2014, for $120,000, or $8.57/sq. ft. At just 0.32 acres, it was too small for most chain restaurants, even fast food establishments. Court Street had a traffic count of 11,500 vehicles a day on the stretch in front of the future restaurant. Boulevard had 5,300 vehicles.

Construction has been ongoing for the last few months and the parking lot is almost completely paved. No word yet on an opening date.

Down the street, A 'Lill' Taste of Cuba has switched up its menu and is now known as Ray's Cafe specializing in breakfast and lunch. According to their Facebook page, owner Loray Lill changed the name in January because of an upcoming move. Her brother is the new owner, hence the new name. They're still offering "the same authentic Cuban cuisine, gyros, Philly's, pastas, salads, sandwiches," but have added breakfasts. The new hours are 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday with breakfast served all day.

Back on the west side of town Sonic took out a building permit late last month for a $400,000 expansion and renovation to its existing location on Walton Way.

On the negative side of the economic development equation the Illinois Centre Mall continues to shed stores under the current slate of owners. Locally owned The Country Porch/Country Gourmet is closing its door at the end of the month with Sisters Three next door planning to follow. In addition the corporate chain of Deb Shops are closing all their stores, including the one in the Marion mall.

Vigiano's II Fitness Center also closed in January on the east side of the interstate. However that appears to be under contract with a new owner. Last Monday the Marion city council approved a recommendation from the city's revolving loan committee for a $175,000 loan to Gabe Parker and his father James Parker, to purchase the gym and reopen it under the name Raw Fitness Center. The loan is part of a financial package being prepared by Farmers State Bank.

The move comes at the same time the city's new Hub Recreation Center hit its goal of 2,000 memberships. Apparently, it's time for Marion to get in shape up in the most literal sense possible.

IHOP Expanding at Least Twice in Southern Illinois

Pancake Holdings, LLC, of Chino Hills, Cal., an IHOP franchisee hasn't announced their expansion plans yet in the region, but we now know where two of their new restaurants will be locating.

Marion Mayor Robert L. Butler announced the Marion location last Jan. 17 at the Marion Chamber of Commerce annual dinner, which he later confirmed to WSIL-TV. Developers of The Hill, Marion Heights LLC, also confirmed the Marion location as the empty lot on The Hill immediately east of Holiday Inn Express.

The lot's bounded by Blue Heron Drive on the north (from which it will have access), Morgan Avenue, now The Hill Way, on the south, the existing Miners Drive on the east (going towards Menards) and a new access road on the west connecting The Hill Way with Blue Heron Drive that's now under construction.

The site's been connected with rumored restaurants for the last few years, including Olive Gardens at one point, but this is the first time a restaurant has been publicly announced. It follows the announcement late last year of a new Gander Mountain opening behind Menards.

Molly Parker of the this morning's Southern Illinoisan has the story on the new Carbondale location IHOP is eying.

Both Gary Williams, Carbondale's assistant city manager for economic development, and Hiren Patel whose MK Lodging LLC owns the UniCity Inn, confirmed that the troubled motel property will be torn down and replaced not only with an IHOP, but a second "3,000 square feet of space for another 'fast-casual' themed restaurant and 10,000 square feet of retail." Patel said he finalized the deal Thursday.

Patel's company bought the former America's Best Inn next to Steak 'n Shake last February after it had been closed by the city for code violations. Although he invested thousands into it to reopen and re-brand it, he said after a month of contemplating, the best business decision was to sell rather than pour thousands more into it.

Although deals have supposedly been reached for both parcels no deeds have been filed as of yet. If Patel just signed the purchase agreement Thursday, it would still take a few more weeks for deeds to be prepared, signed and filed. Even with signed deeds it still takes time. When Gander Mountain bought its property last Nov. 13, they didn't file the deeds and other documents for three weeks until Dec. 5.

Up until last fall the nearest IHOP restaurants were in the St. Louis area and Paducah, Ky. A new franchisee, Apple Investor Group, opened an IHOP in Cape Girardeau last October in the former Pasta House restaurant that closed last May.

The new Carbondale, and most likely Marion IHOPs will be new construction and will be among the first to feature the chain's new restaurant design.

Butler told Parker that as far as he’s aware, “there’s not been any change” in the Marion plans. “They told me they were looking at several locations in Southern Illinois.”

Patel's MK Lodging also owns the Comfort Suites in Marion.

Gander Mountain and the STAR Bonds Project

It's been a few weeks since Gander Mountain announced plans for a new Marion store, and we're now getting more details about the deal.

At the time, they announced it would be a 52,000 sq. ft. store employing up to 100 associates, of whom about a quarter would be full-time employees. The building will be built behind Menard's on a 4.824-acre lot carved out of the southeast corner of the vacant land located there owned by Marion Heights, LLC, the original developers of The Hill.

Officials declined to say at the time how much they paid for the land. However they finally filed the deed and other paperwork with the county last Friday. They paid $1,470,896 for the 210,128 sq. ft. of property, which if those numbers seem hard to fathom that's okay. The price was $7/sq. ft., less than half the $15/sq. ft., the price property has been selling on Halfway Road.

Realty Income Properties 4, LLC, a Delaware corporation based in Escondido, California, took possession of the property on Nov. 13, which they will apparently lease to Gander Mountain.

Comparatively speaking the price seems low, but in real estate development, that's the benefit of getting in on the ground floor so to speak. Gander Mountain sets the stage for the first new major commercial development in Marion since the recession, not only do they get a cheaper price, they also get to set the rules for further development.

Like most major retailers they requested, and received, deed restrictions on other future development on The Hill. While there are a variety of rules, the key one prohibits any key competitors:

... no portion of the Restricted Property may be used by Academy Sports and Outdoors, Cabela's, Bass Pro Shops, Dick's Sporting Goods (including Field and Stream), Scheels, Sportsman's Warehouse and any owned or controlled affiliate of the foregoing companies (collected the "Specific Competitors").

There's nothing sinister about this, as those stores, particularly the larger ones, would require the same restrictions if they were the first to locate here. As to department stores such as Walmart, they would be allowed but only if they kept their hunting/fishing/camping sections to less than 10,000 sq. ft.

The interesting part, particularly as it relates to the future of the STAR Bonds project, is that these restrictions aren't just for the adjoining property behind Menard's, but for all of Marion Heights' land on either side of Interstate 57.

Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops are two of a very small number of retailers that would qualify as a destination retailer for the STAR Bonds. There needs to be at least one of those involved before the STAR Bonds incentives could even be activated.

Does this signal the end of the effort to use the STAR Bonds legislation, or do the developers have something else up their sleeve? The development west of Kansas City, on which the legislation is based, utilizes another big retailer, Nebraska Furniture Mart. Although the former developers of the STAR Bonds district were trying to secure them, it's not clear if they had any interest as they only have two locations in the entire country.

The 38 or so acres left north of Menards remains in the STAR Bonds District awaiting the arrival of additional retailers or other developments. But back to Gander Mountain, the chain has been aggressively opening new, larger stores around the country. Marion appears to fit in that trend.

As part of the deal, we'll see more roadwork take place on The Hill. The day before they signed the deed, Marion Heights LLC dedicated Home Run Drive will be a new street that runs behind Menard's. It will connect Blue Heron Drive which runs along the interstate on the east, to Miners Drive which runs between Rent One Stadium and Menards. Down the road we'll also see the development of Stadium View Drive on the north side of the development and Miners Drive be extended north as well.

According to the sign out on the property, Gander Mountain expects to open sometime in April 2015.