Community pitches in to help restore buildings on Bushnell's downtown square

McDonough County Voice newspaper

Wednesday

Posted Sep 28, 2016 at 10:59 AM

by Lainie SteelmanReporter/Lifestyle Editor

BUSHNELL — On the east corner of Bushnell’s downtown square, the community is pitching in to help restore a train depot and an adjacent building dating back to 1900.

The Bushnell Citizens Coalition, a non-profit group made up of citizens working to revitalize the downtown, leased the train depot from the city under a 99-year, $1 lease agreement. The Coalition plans turn the depot — which dates back as early as 1910, when Bushnell was a bustling railroad town that serviced freight and passenger trains — into a commercial space for vendor kiosks. The depot will also serve as “welcome” stop for downtown visitors, and it will be the home of the Bushnell Citizens Coalition.

Adjacent to the depot, a building being restored by Mark Rauschert will eventually be a restaurant and bar. Rauschert is president of his family’s company, Midwest Control Products.

Like the Citizens Coalition, Rauschert’s goal isn’t to turn a profit. After finishing renovations in about two years, Rauschert plans to lease the building and restaurant to someone else and ensure it’s a sustainable business for whomever takes it over.

“Part of it is, what I’ve figured out, is I’m not taking this building with me,” Rauschert explained. “If for some reason I have to go somewhere else, the building’s still going to be here. So everybody gets to enjoy it. We are not actually going to be the operators, we’re going to be the landlords, and we’ll make it so there’s no way they can’t make money.”

Rauschert said people have often stopped by the building and offered to lend a hand. Others have given historical artifacts they’d like to see displayed in the restored building.

“We’re keeping track of everybody who’s helped,” Rauschert said. “Somebody’s giving us a player piano.”

As Rauschert has torn down walls and stripped away plaster, the building’s history has revealed itself. A bank, a drug store, a barbershop and a clothing store are among the former tenants.

Record books from the old Bank of Bushnell, which went under during the Great Depression and closed in 1939, have been found in a space above a previously hidden doorway. Brick archways have been found under layers of plaster, and long-hidden separate rooms have been found behind walls.

On the building’s exterior, a sign for Barnes Drugs was found beneath layers of paint. Rauschert plans to retain as much of the building’s original brickwork as possible.

“Our goal is to get something major done on the outside so that people have something to look at this winter,” Rauschert said of the restoration work.

Giving the community something to look at on the downtown square is also the immediate goal of the Bushnell Citizens Coalition.

The group has raised $18,000 through donations, with $17,000 coming from three donors: Walter Beers, the Rauschert family and Jim Spiker. Beers and Spiker are former Bushnell residents.

Jodi Glynn Patrick, president of the Bushnell Citizens Coalition, estimates another $30,000 is needed to finish restoring the depot, which for many years was used by the city as a storage building.

Work on a new foundation for the structure will begin within a few weeks. The depot’s original foundation consisted only of rocks, which was common for the era during which it was built.

The depot’s original wood flooring was discovered underneath sheets of plywood that had been nailed down years ago. Patrick believes most of the original flooring is salvageable. Inside the depot’s old coal chute, Patrick found enough coal to fill a bucket.

The Citizens Coalition has applied for a grant from Pella, a manufacturer of windows and doors with a plant in Macomb, to replace the depot’s windows.

“We’re taking it back to the original,” Patrick said of restoration work on the depot.

“We thought if people see it, and they see that this is real, that real work is being done on it, then we’ll start to get the donations. It’s hard to get people to invest in something that’s just a standing building. So now they can see it. It’s not a ‘what if’ project. We’re doing it.”

The restoration of Rauschert’s building was featured on a recent episode of “Illinois Stories,” the PBS series hosted by Mark McDonald. The episode can be viewed on Illinois Stories’ YouTube channel.

Oakwood Friends seek landmark status

The McDonough County Voice

Thursday

Posted Sep 29, 2016 at 11:48 AM

By Patrick Stout - Voice Correspondent

MACOMB — The city's historic preservation commission held the first of two scheduled public hearings Tuesday on a application from Friends of Oakwood Cemetery for the burial ground to be designated as a local landmark. City Attorney Kristen Petrie told commissioners that many cemeteries in the state have been designated as landmarks.

Petrie said a city ordinance would have to be approved to make such a designation.

"A cemetery is a single property," she said. "You don't count each plot separately."

Kathy Nichols of the friends group spoke of the historical significance of many of the persons buried at Oakwood. Commission Vice-Chairman Allen Nemec said he would also like to know more about historic structures within the cemetery and the layout of its original entrance.

Deputy Community Development Coordinator Mitch Flynn said he would like to see such historic detail included in the application. "I love the project," Commission Chairman Dennis Danowski said of the Oakwood Friends' effort.

Petrie cautioned that the commission has no jurisdiction over the appearance of individual gravesites. "The design is a family choice and nothing can be dictated by the commission," she said.

Commissioners voted to resume discussion of the Friends of Oakwood Cemetery application at their Oct. 25 meeting.

In other business, Nemec reported that he and Danowski are scheduled to discuss plans for a Macomb Historic Homes recognition program with city aldermen on Oct. 10. Petrie said the program would later be formally submitted to the city council for adoption by resolution.

Commissioner Sue Scott reported that the remains of two pillars that sat in front of the historic Randolph House hotel downtown would be returned to their original location in front of the building. They had been removed during store renovations within the building.

Two weeks ago, Scott said she had been informed that construction workers were told that they could throw the pillar remains away. She and another local historian met with project workers and told them the pillars could not be removed without city permission.

Macomb's downtown square is a designated historic district, and all external structures are under the jurisdiction of state and city historic preservation authorities.

The next McDonough County Historical Society meeting will be

Sept. 12, 2016 at 7pm.

at the Western Illinois Museum, 201 South Lafayette St., Macomb 

The speaker will be Nancy Jameson, 

Administrator of Everly House Retirement Center of Macomb.

Ms. Jameson will speak about the

"History of the Everly Family and Rebecca Everly's contribution to Macomb"

from Tri-States Public Radio website:

http://tspr.org/post/old-monument-gets-new-look-macomb#stream/0

Old Monument Gets a New Look in Macomb

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• 

Around 50 people participated in a rededication ceremony for the War of 1812 monument in Chandler Park.  Pella Corporation collaborated with the city and several other businesses to restore the marker, which was first unveiled on September 11, 1914.

John Finn, Pella Plant Manager. "We told the city we'd love to take this on (the monument restoration) as a project for our 90th anniversary and 10 years in Macomb."

CREDIT RICH EGGER

"Pella Corporation has 11 manufacturing facilities spread all across the United States. And as part of our 90th anniversary, we wanted to give back to those communities,” said John Finn, Plant Manager for Pella’s factory in Macomb.

“I figured the best person to go to was the mayor (Mike Inman). So we approached the mayor one early spring afternoon and he directed us down here to this monument.”

The refurbishing included removing patina from the monument and installing a concrete patio around the marker with a concrete sidewalk leading to it.  Some landscaping surrounds the base of the statue.

Previously, the monument sat on a slight grassy knoll with no patio, no landscaping, and away from other park features – what Finn called “a little bit of a non-descript location.”

The east side of the monument honors General Alexander Macomb.

CREDIT RICH EGGER

The monument pays tribute to two War of 1812 heroes in particular – General Alexander Macomb and Commodore Thomas Macdonough, for whom the city and county are named.

Local author and columnist John Hallwas, who delivered the keynote address, said Macomb and Macdonough led the nation to victory in crucial battles at Plattsburgh and on Lake Champlain on September 11, 1814.   

Local author and columnist John Hallwas. "The War of 1812 had a positive influence on American culture. There was a new sense that America was finally free from European interference, was secure within its borders, and could expand westward without conflict with the British," Hallwas said during his keynote speech at the re-dedication ceremony.

CREDIT RICH EGGER

“This (monument) shows residents and visitors that we are committed to thinking about, and appreciating, what matters in our national past, and relating it to our lives in this place,” Hallwas told the crowd.

Hallwas also explained how the federal government tried to encourage development of western Illinois between the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers by creating the Military Tract for veterans of the War of 1812.

“The land was surveyed in 1816-1817, before most counties were developed, and then 2,800,000 of those acres were distributed to former soldiers.  Few of them actually settled on their lands, but rather, most sold their titles to speculators, who then helped to create a land boom in western Illinois during the 1830s, when Macomb and so many other towns were established,” Hallwas said.

Finn said he was captivated by that piece of local history.

“As a businessman here in Macomb, I was really intrigued by the Military Tract warrants that brought economic development and population relocation into the area,” Finn said.

“We (Pella) are very new to the economic development scene here in McDonough County. But I think you have to have a certain respect for what got it all started. And this monument reminds us of what that actually was.”

The dedication ceremony in September, 1914 drew a large crowd to Chandler Park.

The Bailey House hosted a well-attended "Business After Hours" event

on April 20, 2016 for the Macomb Area Chamber of Commerce. 

Downtown Development Director and Mayor will speak 

Next meeting of the McDonough County Historical Society will be

March 14, 2016

will be held in the Community Room of City Hall at 7pm.

Public invited.

The Macomb Downtown Development Director, Kristin Terry will speak at the next meeting

She will be speaking  about a variety of City issues including:  

• Façade grant
• revolving loan program  
•  new mission and vision statement
• new branding of the downtown
• the Art Sculpture project that will be coming in June
•  the update on the Downtown Revitalization project
• events that will be going on in the Downtown Area and how that will work

Mayor Inman will follow with an update on the Lamoine Hotel project. 

• By Patrick Stout
  Voice Correspondent

  
  Posted Feb. 25, 2016 at 11:08 AM 
  
  

  MACOMB — The Historic Preservation Commission was informed Tuesday that Amtrak wants to pay for remodeling at the Macomb Depot to make it comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Commission chairman Dennis Danowski said a ramp would be added to the building from its parking lot on the east side.

  Community Development Coordinator Ray Heitner said Amtrak was sharing its plans with the city and commission as a courtesy. "Amtrak is not required to apply for a certificate of appropriateness for changes to the historic depot," he said, "but it wants city reaction as to how the changes might impact the building's character."

  The commission also discussed requirements for property owners who might want their land or buildings designated as local landmarks. "We're creating an application form," said Heitner, "but we also want to put detailed information on the city website so people know their obligations."

  Heitner said a property receiving historic designation cannot have its exterior rebuilt or altered without commission permission. He said there are a number of other defined guidelines from the city and the state that must be followed, such as the filing of a statement of intent in terms of property use, a description of historic architectural features, and a site plan.

  Danowski said potential applicants should be made aware that city staff members can help them prepare their applications. Heitner said a sample application and glossary of terms would also be linked to his office website.

  The community development coordinator said Bob Anstine, former Macomb mayor and now chairman of the McDonough County Historical Society, had asked about the possible awarding of "honorary" landmark designations for property owners reluctant to make city, state, or federal property commitments.

  Commission vice-chairman Allen Nemec, who is also a member of the historical society, was designated as coordinator between the society and the commission. "The commission originally wanted to do something on its own," Nemec said, "but I thought it might be confusing to have two different recognition efforts."

  Nemec said the historical society might want to lead the effort to nominate properties for landmark distinction, or it might want to handle awards presentations for properties receiving landmark status.

  Reach Patrick Stout via email at pstout@McDonoughVoice.com.

• from the McDonough County Voice newspaper Jan. 19, 2016

• Good Hope considers mapping its cemeteries

• By Michelle Langhout

• Staff Reporter

  
  Posted Jan. 19, 2016 at 11:32 AM 
  
  

  GOOD HOPE — Good Hope village trustees met Thursday evening to discuss the feasibility of mapping its cemetery.

  Marla Vizdal of the McDonough County Genealogical Society spoke to the village about mapping the cemetery. She said that the genealogy society is trying to update the county’s cemetery books, including Good Hope’s cemetery book which was published by the genealogy society in 1982. She said she is compiling information for a database of the deceased in the county including updated names, verified specific dates, locations of plots, obituaries and other information if available.

  She said this and other supplemental information may be valuable for the village as it makes decisions related to mapping. She also said the Geographic Information Systems department at Western has been working with the Oakwood cemetery, and may be a resource worth looking into for the Good Hope cemetery.

  Putting things into a digital format may be ideal for updating purposes and making information available online.