Peoria Illinoisan

I was perusing the Journal Star archives today and found an article from 1993 where a private investment of $12 million dollars was nixed in favor of $880 thousand dollar outlay of cash from the City of Peoria for a Prudential Cullinan Property project. The $12 million dollar privately funded project was for a “water-bottling operation, museum and microbrewery” at the site of the Peoria Mineral Springs. The approved $880 thousand dollar outlay from the city was for infrastructure to support the proposed Spring Grove subdivision.

I’m not saying the development of Spring Grove subdivision was a bad decision – it looks like a nice place, and I don’t recall what was there before – but I can’t get over the thought that we could have had a water-bottling operation and microbrewery based on the Peoria Mineral Springs and the Zealy Moss home, similar to the Peoria Mineral Springs Bottling Works which was founded in 1850, not to mention a small museum. Really – how cool would that have been?

Charles Traynor knew something was going on across the street from his house at 701 Martin Luther King, but he said did not realize the plans drawn by Prudential Cullinan Properties Ltd. overlapped his plans for a bottling and entertainment project.

The Peoria City Council approved a redevelopment agreement with Prudential Cullinan on Tuesday, providing $880,000 in public money for roads and other improvements in the Southtown project, bounded roughly by King, Elliott, Fifth and Sheridan.

Cullinan Executive Vice President Michael Wisdom said the 49-lot, single-home development, named Spring Grove, will provide a unique, affordable subdivision within walking distance of downtown and Bradley University.

Homes, including lots, would start at $60,000, Wisdom said, with plans either provided by the developer or the buyer.

Hours before Cullinan’s plans hit the City Council floor, Traynor approached the city administration about his plans for developing a water-bottling plant, museum and microbrewery, all in conjunction with the adjacent and historic Peoria Mineral Springs.

“What we’re talking about is a tourist attraction that could go on a thousand years, or more,” Traynor told the City Council.

Though not opposing the Cullinan plans, Traynor said he was not aware of the housing project boundaries until Tuesday. Traynor’s development, backed by up to $12 million in private investment, would extend as far south as Sixth Street, overlapping significantly with the housing plan.

“I knew (Cullinan) was working on a project, but I had no idea it was coming up that close,” Traynor told reporters after the meeting. He said he spent a year studying the project, including label trademarks.

Backers include an investment group headed by David Puterbaugh, Traynor said.

The council approved the Cullinan agreement by an 8-1 vote, with 2nd District Councilman Gary Sandberg opposed and 4th District Councilman Steve Kouri abstaining.

The council also approved a planning and negotiation agreement for a second phase of the Cullinan project, adjacent to Spring Grove. The agreement gives Cullinan exclusive negotiation rights for a year on city-owned property to the east of the initial Spring Grove project, with the goal of developing multifamily housing.

Traynor and Wisdom vowed to cooperate on their Southtown ambitions, though city staff indicated that Traynor’s industrial plans might be incompatible in a residential area.

Sandberg questioned the terms of the Cullinan agreement, particularly provisions that guarantee Cullinan a 10 percent developer’s fee of the $800,000 improvement but require Cullinan to build as few as six houses.

“Apparently, some of us have forgotten what Southtown looked like 10 years ago,” Mayor Jim Maloof said in response to Sandberg, adding it would be risky to set aside the Cullinan project in favor of a fully private venture such as Traynor’s.

As it stands today, an estimated 30,000 gallons of water continues to flow out of the spring and into the sewer system. Unfortunately for Charles Traynor, he didn’t have his plan as well laid out as Prudential Cullinan nor was he even aware of the project, and likely didn’t have the political and personal connections that sometimes are necessary either, but all I can say after reading Mayor Maloof’s comment on the matter is that the more things change, the more things stay the same.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Prairie Folklore Theatre’s presentation at Springdale Cemetery and enjoyed it so much I decided to put together this short video.  If you missed it, the performance repeats this weekend, October 10th & 11th at both 2 and 4pm.  Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children, or $20 for a family.

Tuesday evening was Illinois American Water’s open house. Naturally, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity like that, so I went down, pictures in hand. After touring the museum and grounds, I pulled out my pictures and asked one of the representatives if they recognized what was in them, and he pointed me in the direction of a gentleman who could.

Turns out my picture is of one of four abandoned water intakes (anyone who previously suggested that may now pat themselves on the back.) I instantly recognized my tower to be the same as one in a picture taken during the flood of 1926. I cannot put a date on when this tower was built, but a circular structure most resembling the intake called the “main well house,” was built in 1890.

If you’re curious about the whys and hows of water tower intakes, as I was, this is an interesting read.

While I still mourn the destruction of Maplewood avenue and the venerable Fieldhouse, construction of the new Bradley Athletic Performance Center and the Puterbaugh Family Men’s Basketball Practice Facility (abbreviated as BAPCPFMBPF) is moving right along.

Great minds think alike.  Check out Kirk Wessler’s construction update photos {here}.

UPDATE:

I did NOT mean to post a Bee Gee’s medley!

let’s try this again, shall we?

Perpetuum Jazzile – Africa.

And that’s all I have to say on the matter.  Actually, it’s not. Sidewalks are basic city infrastructure that should be maintained just as much as city streets are. People like to talk about the ‘broken windows’ theory of cleaning up a neighborhood, what better example than a sidewalk? If you lived on a street with crumbling sidewalks, would you really invest in your home and keep it tidy? Not likely. Now if you lived on a nice street with lovely new sidewalks and maybe some ornamental lighting, would you, possibly unconsciously, keep your home and yard looking nicer? Probably. If your neighbor did the same and another neighbor down the street did the same, before you know it the place would begin to attract better home owners and tenants.

If you drive around this city, look at the ‘nice’ neighborhoods. I’ll bet they have nice sidewalks too. Now look at some of the higher crime areas. Sidewalks? If they exist, they’re not always in the best shape, and quite frankly the poorer residents can’t afford to have them fixed anyway.

Granted, this will never happen as the council seems dead set on throwing money at pet projects and private developers instead of focusing on what should really matter… services such as police and fire, and basic infrastructure.

Fix a broken sidewalk, fix a broken city.

They’re both wonderful places run by the nicest people you’d ever want to meet, and neither accepts credit cards.

I ran into this issue at Christ Orchard last year when we did our annual pumpkin patch picking excursion. They do accept personal checks, but I didn’t have any on me. The lady behind the counter didn’t ask for me to leave our pumpkins behind, she said with a smile “It’s ok, just mail us a check.”

I decided to finally pick up some food from El Mexicano last night and as they were cooking my order I pulled out a credit card for payment. Nope. Not accepted. I offered a personal check, but they declined that also. So did they throw my food in the trash and me out the door? Naw – they said “just pay us tomorrow,” and handed me my food.

Treat the customer right and with respect. That’s how loyalty is gained. We go to Christ orchard at least once a year and I’ll be picking up lunch at El Mexicano on Saturday when I go back to pay them for Thursday’s meal.

The food is quite excellent, if you’re wondering.

What’s the point of a map ‘key’ if it doesn’t relate to the map? I just wanted to glance and see which road construction projects would be completed when, not have to color it in myself. Is that too much to ask?

I can hardly contain my excitement at finding this website. It’s an interactive Google map showing the exact location of every known cemetery in Peoria county. There’s Tazewell and Woodford county maps too, in addition to every single county in Illinois if you are so inclined.

I could sense that my new hobby was beginning to worry my wife in relation to my mental well-being, so about a month ago I finally convinced my wife to take a quick tour of Springdale with me. I showed her some people she was familiar with – Captain Detweiller, John Proctor, the Ballances, the Herschels, Mayor Woodruff, and the Bradley family among others. After our brief tour she declared that I was not “quite as weird” as she had previously thought.

She understood. Cemeteries are beautiful places chocked full of history, art and architecture. Armed with these maps I will be checking out some new ones soon.

Two years and 151 Peoria Landmarks ago I published this picture taken by Scott O’Brien, one of the original Peoria bloggers and author of the now defunct O’Brien’s Briar Patch:

I had no idea what its purpose was and I still don’t. Noted local historians Norm Kelly, Dr. Peter Kouri and frequent NTPL commenter JW had never seen it nor knew what it was. It sits on the banks of the Illinois River just a few hundred yards south of the McCluggage Bridge. Last week I went back to visit my favorite hidden treasure to find it on the brink of collapse.

It appears that the recent floods were more than this grand forgotten structure could take. As you can see in the picture, one wall has completely collapsed and another wall is on the brink which will cave the roof in. Of the original four curved stone lintels, only one remains.

Sigh. Another wonderful and historic link to our past is soon to be lost and few people even know and fewer even care.

While wandering through Farmington’s historic Oak Ridge cemetery I was struck by the disparity of how well some generally fragile headstones were preserved…

…and what a state of disrepair other sections of the cemetery seemed to be in. I was going to write about how poorly the cemetery is kept and how it reminded me of the uncared for Mt. Hawley cemetery in Peoria;

Then I read this:

Farmington’s sacred burial grounds in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Farmington, Illinois,  has suffered tragic destruction during the past few months.  The Cemetery is being systematically destroyed by vandals.

Grateful blessings go to Steve, the cemetery caretaker, who has repaired what he can or carefully gathers broken pieces to respectfully stack them together for future repair.  Unfortunately, vandals return almost immediately to re-break or dislodge what he has lovingly repaired or replaced.

The vandals have tried to do harm to the Mausoleum where attempts have been made to damage the front entrance of this precious old building.

Shown [above] is the sacred gravesite of Theodore and Rachel Sargent.  This has stood undisturbed for 138 years … until 2009.

Recently many graves were desecrated by vandals in Oak Ridge Cemetery of Farmington, Illinois.

This is their grave stone today, broken into pieces.

If you’ve seen or heard anything that might lead to the capture and arrest of the guilty, please contact the Farmington Police Department. Over 80 graves have been desecrated in Farmington’s sacred burial grounds.  It’s time for that to stop.

This makes me sick. You know, all forms of vandalism are bad, but there is a special place in hell for people who vandalize cemeteries, and even though whoever is doing this probably doesn’t believe in hell, I can assure you he will find it a very unpleasant place – hopefully after a long stint in jail.

After recently picking up a copy of Goldmine’s book Records & Prices, I’ve been having fun going through my collection of vinyl and seeing if I have anything worth some good dough. I was surprised at how many weren’t worth much, but I did find a few gems. I didn’t bother looking up any that weren’t in pristine condition, so the prices listed are VG+ and Near Mint. Of course I’m not selling any of them, but it’s still fun to know what they’re potentially worth.

The Beatles – Meet The Beatles (Capital ST 2047) – $60-100

The Beatles – The Beatles, complete with photos and poster (Apple SWBO-101) – $75-200

Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home (Columbia CL 2328) – $25-50

Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited (Columbia CL 2389) – $40-80

Procol Harum – Procol Harum (Deram DES 18008) – $20-40

The Who – The Who Sings My Generation (Decca DL 4664) – $50-100

Go to your attic, basement, closet or wherever you store your albums and quiz me. I’d be happy to look up the value. While you’re at it, turn on your stereo and drop the needle down. I guarantee you’ll say “damn I love vinyl.”

While driving past the old Lagron Miller on Main St which I believe One World still owns, I noticed a For Sale or Lease sign in the window by a realty firm called Peoria Works Development. I had never heard of them before and wondered if the city had entered the commercial realty business, possibly as branch of Peoria’s economic development department that I was unaware of. The contact phone number has an 312 area code. Chicago loop. From what I gather from their website this is their only property; at least under this name.

Call me Peoria-centric to a fault, but there’s something about a firm from Chicago passing themselves off as a local entity that bugs me.

Personally I’m more concerned with the raw sewage being dumped in the river everytime it rains than trace amounts of Vicodin.