Work begins on $16.1 million O’Fallon office building

O’Fallon 5-story Visionary Wealth Advisors building on I-64 photo courtesy Visional Wealth Advisors.

Edwardsville-based Visionary Wealth Advisors broke ground May 6 on a five-story, $16.1 million office building at 1405 Green Mount Road in O’Fallon. The year-old financial firm will be the lead tenant for the 65,000-square-foot structure near I-64, using the top floor for office and meeting space.

The third and fourth floors will become the new home of Kurowski & Shultz, LLC, one of the area’s most prominent law firms.

The second floor will have office space for lease. Plans for the first floor include a restaurant, bank, and possibly medical practices.

The rest of the fifth floor will become a beautiful meeting and entertainment venue that can seat 55 for dinner, and accommodate 100 guests outdoors. The outdoor area promises a spectacular view, which could include fireworks at night, and the Arch on a clear day. It will be the only penthouse-style venue in O’Fallon.

The building will have five floors, and most of the fifth floor will become Visionary Wealth Advisor’s O’Fallon office.

Visionary Wealth co-founder and CEO Brett Gilliland of O’Fallon, Scott Plocher of Highland-based Plocher Construction, and Maryville anesthesiologist James Powell, M.D., will co-own the building. Plocher Construction is general contractor for the project. Hurford Architects designed the structure.

The building will offer the only penthouse-style venue in O’Fallon, according to developers. Visionary Wealth and currently has offices in Brentwood, Mo. and Miami, Fla., as well as its headquarters building, which will remain in Edwardsville.

The new meeting space is intended to help accommodate rapid expansion of the company’s operations. Gilliland along with company co-found and President Tim Hammett, of Fenton, Mo., plan to expand their network of financial advisors nationwide over the coming year,

Although the financial firm was only established in March 2014, it already has 27 advisors in its offices and 32 million under management, according to the company website.

Subhed: MCT seeks input on possible fare increases

The Madison County Mass Transit District (MCT) has scheduled a series of “open house” events to gather public input on possible fare increases. District officials say fare adjustments may be necessitated by proposed Illinois state budget cuts that could reduce support to local mass transit programs. District officials emphasize they are not proposing a specific fare adjustment plan at this time, but rather, are gathering public input to assist in decisions on whether to adjust fares, and if so, the amounts and types of adjustment to be made, according to SJ Morrison, MCT director of marketing & planning. However, the district is studying four possible fare adjustment scenarios. The district board has not set a effective date for any rate adjustments, Morrison added. District officials emphasize they are not proposing a specific fare adjustment but are studying four possible fare increase scenarios.

• June 2, 10-11:30 a.m. — Highland City Hall Council Chambers
• June 2, 3-4:30 p.m. — MCT Alton Station
• June 3, 10-11:30 a.m. — MCT Granite City Station
• June 3, 3:30-5 p.m. — MCT Collinsville Station
• June 4, 10-11:30 a.m. MCT Wood River Station
• June 4, 4-5:30 p.m. MCT Edwardsville Station

District officials not the MCT’s fare are currently among the lowest in the region or the state.

The transit system expanded its expanded its fix-route bus service in January and again this month.

Copies of the MCT’s rate adjustment scenarios are to be posted shortly on the district’s website (www.mct.org).

St. Anthony’s developing $2.7 million ‘patient centric’ medical building

OSF Saint Anthony’s Health Center is transforming the headquarters of its multispecialty physician group into a state-of-the-art “patient centric” medical building, in line with a nationwide overhaul of the nation’s primary healthcare system.

An estimated $2.7 million remodeling project, that began the week of May 6, will reconfigure the Saint Anthony’s Physician Group building on the hospital’s Alton campus to facilitate an emerging “coordinate care” model that is encouraged under health care reform legislation, such as the Affordable Care Act, and increasingly demanded by public and private health plan.

Under the new approach, health care practitioners are expected to work cooperatively to provide patients all appropriate care for health conditions, encourage preventive care, and foster active patient involvement in treatment planning, care regime compliance, and adoption of healthy lifestyle

The new building is designed to facilitate the new team-based and collaborative approach to care by providing more efficient and functional workflow for staff while ensuring privacy and dignity for patients, according to Sister M. Anselma, OSF Saint Anthony’s chief operating officer.

In addition to a new 11,000-square-foot suite configuration with bright rooms, equipment and furnishings, the physician group’s building will be wired with a nationally recognized electronic health record system that connects a patient’s record in the physician office to a patient’s record at the hospital. Computer workstations will be featured in each exam room, allowing the physician easy access to a patient’s chart.

“Patients and physicians will see the benefits of having a single patient record for all points of care, with hard-to-find information a thing of the past,” Sister M. Anselma said. “Test results and notes during a patient’s visit to the hospital, doctor’s visit or laboratory are consolidated and coordinated in one secure record.”

A new self-service check-in kiosk in the reception area will allow patients to check in prior to their appointments; although face-to-face registration will still be available.

At home, patients will be able to securely access portions of their medical record, such as test and lab results, renew prescriptions and perform other functions through via the Internet using MyHealth, a free patient portal. With MyHealth, patients can securely access the Internet.

An opening date for the new patient-centric health facility has not yet been announced.

Horseradish Festival gets Collinsville back to its roots

The Annual International Horseradish Festival in Collinsville is set for June 5-7 in Woodland Park. The festival draws thousands people each year to the Horseradish Capital of the World.

In addition to horseradish root grinding demonstrations, the American Family Insurance root derby, farmer’s root sacking contests, a root toss, root golf, horseradish recipe contest, and Little Miss Horseradish competition, then festival features a craft village, children’s area, RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon rides (weather permitting) on Friday, a 5K run Sunday, music and other events daily.

The Collinsville area’s soil and climate are considered ideal for horseradish farming and the area is generally considered the nation’s leading producer of the popular condiment. The festival is held annually during the first week in June. Hours are: Friday 5-10 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. For additional information see www.internationalhorseradishfestival.com

$1 million in sales at Belleville’s Art on the Square

Art sales were expected to total more than $1 million during Belleville’s 14^th Art on the Square festival, May 15-17. Held annually on the first weekend following Mother’s Day, the festival has been ranked the nation’s “No. 1” or “No. 2” art show in terns of sales for each of the past eight years by the prestigious Art Fair Source Book. A total of 103 artists from around the nation and outside the U.S. were selected from among more than 900 applicants to compete in this year’s juried competition. Entries included work in clay, glass, jewelry, digital/graphic design, fine craft, watercolor/tempura, mixed media, oil and acrylics, photography, drawing/printmaking, sculpture and wood.