Scully Park rededication
set for Saturday

[MAY 25, 2000]  Main Street Lincoln volunteers have been hard at work getting Scully Park in downtown Lincoln ready for its rededication Saturday, May 27, at 10 a.m. The park will become more welcoming and user-friendly with new lights, a restored fountain, picnic tables and attractive plantings.

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Officials explain status of storefront renovation program

[MAY 24, 2000]  The men on the scaffolding, ladders and hydraulic lifts aren't plastic surgeons, but they're accomplishing the same thing on storefronts in downtown Lincoln. According to Joan Ritter, mayor of Lincoln, and Grant Eaton, engineer for the Environmental Management Corporation, 18 business owners are currently enrolled in the program.

"Initially, the grant, which is funded through the Illinois Department of Transportation, began to put together a program that would help business owners in towns that had an active 'Main Street' project renovate their storefronts," Ritter said.

"At the onset, approximately 39 owners showed interest in participating," she added.

"Due to the length of time it took to actually get work under way, some owners dropped out and others decided to do the work themselves," Ritter said.

The first phase of the IDOT program began in 1993.  Eaton said that the first bids came in over budget and excluded some portions of work that needed to be addressed.

"Some of the storefronts were found to have leaded paint, Eaton said. "In order to remove it and comply with standards established by the Environmental Protection Agency, different procedures had to be used," he added.

Eaton said that the current program will cost about $900,000, with IDOT paying 80 percent and the store owners paying 20 percent.

All work being done has to meet standards established by IDOT and also must maintain "Historic Preservation" codes.

"One business was found to have an original lead glass window behind some plywood that covered it from an earlier construction project," Eaton said.

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 "Anything like this that is found is restored so that the original integrity of the building can be maintained," he said.

Contractors that wanted to bid on any of the projects first had to be certified by the Illinois Capital Development Board.  The contractors that were certified then worked with the architects and IDOT to accomplish the "Enhancement Grant's" purpose.

Although the grant is given by IDOT to each participating town, it is then the responsibility of the participants to administer it.

The Main Street project, which is a self-supporting organization of participating downtown merchants, also had a hand in making business owners aware of the grant and what it would entail for them to participate.

"In June of 1999, each business was contacted and re-signed the contracts for individual participation," Ritter said.

"Main Street was instrumental in helping make the participants aware of the project's status and time schedule," the mayor added.

Approximately once a month, Eaton and the architect walk around the projects together to determine progress, time frames, and discuss potential problems in order to keep a handle on the renovation work.

"Work began late this spring," Eaton said, "and is scheduled to be concluded this fall."

An earlier portion of the same program was a $236,000 project to replace lighting in the downtown area.  According to Eaton, this phase was finished with the city paying 20 percent of the tab.

If it's true that “You never get a second chance to make a first impression,” business owners, the city, Main Street, IDOT, CDB, architects and contractors are all working together to achieve a pleasant-looking downtown that maintains its historic look and invites consumers to the many businesses located there.  

[Fuzz Werth]

[MAY 23, 2000]  Central Illinois Bank had a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday morning at its new Lincoln branch, located at 428 Keokuk St. The bank has been operating since April 17th. The red ribbon was cut by Wally H. Reese, the senior vice president of the Lincoln branch, with Mayor Joan Ritter and the Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors in attendance. The bank occupies the former site of Little Caesar’s Pizza and is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Central Illinois Bank’s (CIB) parent company, Central Illinois Bank Marine Bancshares Inc., began in 1987 primarily as a commercial bank offering business loans to finance start-up costs, working capital, and reinvestments in facilities and equipment. It now offers credit cards, cash management services and automated clearinghouse capabilities. In recent years, CIB has expanded to include all of the retail customer services. There are approximately 40 CIB banking facilities throughout the Midwest.

[CIB's employees and the Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce ambassadors at Monday's ribbon-cutting ceremony]

Julie Dreesen, president and chief operating officer of CIB, said, "I’m very excited. We’ve got a great group of people from the community working here. We picked the people first and then the facility site. We are going to be a good fit in Lincoln."

The Lincoln branch will have a staff of four and will receive direct support as needed from its Peoria and Springfield locations. Four full-time employees from Lincoln will run the branch office: Wally Reese, senior vice president, business development; F. Kay Bauer, office manager; Cindy Anderson, teller supervisor and customer service representative; and Ginger Bryant, teller.

[Wally H. Reese, senior vice president, business development, settles into his new CIB office.]

Reese, an experienced banker, came out of a year and a half of retirement to accept the helm of the new venture. According to Reese, he was offered "a significant challenge." He had opened many branches before but had never opened a bank. He said, "The circumstances were right for me to spend another period of my life in banking. I don’t know how long it will be, but as long as it’s fun, I’ll probably wake up every morning and do it."

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CIB’s philosophy is to put the customer first, which Reese said is needed in today’s banking environment. He sees CIB’s Lincoln branch as a deposit-generating facility, with deposits used throughout Central Illinois. Renna Hadsell, customer service operations manager from Peoria, said, "It’s been very interesting to see a bank grow so quickly. I’m excited about having a new office in a new area."

[CIB, the new bank in town]

Lincoln has many fine banks already, Reese added, as a former Magna Bank officer. "We hope to generate new business," he said. "Although we are small in our attitudes toward how we care for people, we are large enough to handle any lending need. We have sufficient lending limits for any size project. We have 750 million dollars in assets and corporate holdings of two billion dollars."

"We are unique in that we are a small bank with the capital and strength of a large bank," Reese concluded.

[Kym C. Ammons-Scott]

Wear your seat belt: Click it or ticket

[MAY 22, 2000]  May 22 through June 4, which includes the Memorial Day weekend, is the first enforcement period for the "click it or ticket" campaign to enforce the state of Illinois mandatory seat belt law. According to Trooper Dan Beck of Illinois State Police District 9, 305 state, county and municipal law enforcement agencies are taking part in the campaign.

Any person stopped for any traffic offense who is not wearing a seat belt will receive the $55 fine for non-compliance with the seat belt law, as well as the fine for the original traffic violation. Trooper Beck said the campaign is an effort to increase seat belt use, which is only 65.9 percent in Illinois.