A 700-year-old canoe discovered in a sandbar and painstakingly preserved at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site will serve as the centerpiece of an award-winning new permanent exhibit at the site, opening at Aug. 16. (Photo courtesy: Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site)

Collinsville hopes to revive Southwest Corridors project

The Collinsville City Council is attempting to re-start their long-stalled Southwest Corridors Redevelopment Project in the once-thriving St. Louis/Collinsville Road commercial district near the Fairmount Park Racetrack.

The proposed redevelopment area includes St. Louis Road, Collinsville Road, and Ill. 159 (Bluff Road) corridors from the Fairmount Park on the west to Jefferson Avenue on the east and along Bluff Road north to Interstate 55/70.  

City officials say local taxing entities, which have opposed a tax increment financing for redevelopment of the St. Louis/Collinsville Road commercial district are now on-board, although opposition remains among area residents and business owners.

However, the Collinsville City Council heard continuing opposition from residents during a June 13 special meeting and “strategic session” at the Gateway Convention Center.

The Redevelopment Plan and Project for the Project Area provides for construction of new streets, improvement of existing streets, new and upgrade of utilities, including stormwater control facilities, building rehabilitation, property assembly and other TIF eligible activities to facilitate reinvestment on the part of private enterprise.

East St. Louis stepping up liquor license enforcement

The City of East St. Louis has announced plans to begin strictly enforcing laws governing the retail sales of alcoholic beverages in the municipality – with fines of up to $100 assessed for infractions.

At a public hearing last month, city officials formally proposed a new schedule of fines applicable when city inspectors find violations of state or local liquor laws.

Among the infractions for which fines may soon be levied:

• Excessive signage – limited under city ordinances to no more than two signs regarding the sale of liquor and two regarding the sale of tobacco.
• Failure to maintain fully operational security cameras on premises,
• Failure to keep premises adequately lighted,
• Refuse or litter on the premises.
• Failure to maintain security cameras footage for police use for at least seven days.

City inspectors will be instructed to issue warning for violations, with merchants then given two weeks to come into compliance, according to Mayor Emeka Jackson-Hicks. Fines will be levied only if merchants are found to still be non-compliant during a follow-up inspection.

Mayor Jackson-Hicks describes the new enforcement program as a public safety measure.

However, some local merchants are threatening legal action, claiming the enforcement measures are excessive and the new fines are simply a way for the cash-strapped city increase revenues.

Negotiations between the city and Granite City attorney Eric Evans, representing a group of retail liquor license holders, were underway at the Chronicle’s deadline, in an effort to develop a modified enforcement program.

Lewis & Clark cutting budget 8.5 percent

Lewis and Clark Community College’s proposed $31.5 million budget for fiscal year 2016-17 represents an 8.5 percent reductions from current levels, according to college President Dale Chapman. The reduction comes as a result of uncertainty over state funding for public higher education institutions, he said.

Specific cuts include:

• Salaries: a 3.3 percent reduction from $20,375,035 to $19,692,819;
• Employee benefits: a 2.8 percent reduction from $2,589,551 to $2,514,704;
• General materials: a 14.8 percent reduction from $2,296,244 to $1,956,183;
• Salaries for instructions: a 3.1 percent reduction from $11,800,442 to $11,434,623 (-3.1%)
• Travel, conference and meeting expenses for instruction: a 3.5 percent reduction from $33,505 to $32,307;
• Travel, conference and meeting expenses for institutional support: a 21 percent reduction from $157,300 to $123,683; and
• Salaries for institutional support: a 5.9 percent reduction from $3,185,735 to $2,997,001.

The college’s proposed budget will be subject to a public hearing at 6:45 p.m. on July 12 in the board room of Erickson Hall on the Godfrey campus.

East Alton, Wood River, Hartford schools again eye consolidation

For the third time in six years, residents of, East Alton Wood River High School District #14, East Alton School District #13, and Wood River Hartford District #15 gathered June 13 for a public hearing on consolidation elementary and high school districts.

Madison County Regional Superintendent of Schools Robert Daiber convened the hearing, as required under state law, after receiving a petition May 13 from at least 50 residents in the districts

Voters rejected a consolidation proposition on a 931-939 vote last year and also turned back a consolidation plan by a narrow margin in 2011.

Proponents say the move would save money in the face the area’s declining tax base. However, opponents say no formal studies have yet shown of the move would either save money or improve education.

Testimony from the hearing has been sent to the Illinois Department of Education which will determine whether to place a referendum on the November ballot in the districts.

New Cahokia Mounds exhibit wins major award

A new feature at the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site —illustrating life in what is now Metro-East nearly 1,000 years ago — has garnered one of the nation’s top honors for historic preservation and interpretation.

The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) has announced an Award of Merit will be presented to Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site for its “Wetlands and Waterways: The Key to Cahokia” exhibit.

Opening Aug. 16, the new, permanent exhibit focuses on life along the rivers and wetlands of the Mississippi Valley that gave rise to Cahokia Mounds, America’s first city. It includes a 52-foot-long mural depicting a backwater lake, river bluffs, forests and fields typical of the floodplain, known today as the American Bottom.

The award will be presented during the 2016 AASLH/MMA Annual Meeting in Detroit, Sept. 16. The banquet is supported by a contribution from the History Channel.

The Cahokia Mounds Museum will offer a preview reception for the exhibit Aug. 15, with authors Lori Belknap and Molly Wawrzyniak signing copies of the exhibit’s companion book.  For information, call (618) 344-7316.

–Metro East Area News Briefs–