Van catches fire on I-55

[SEPT. 25, 2000]  On Saturday afternoon, at the 119 mile marker near Broadwell on Interstate 55, a 1989 GMC van caught on fire. The owner, Robert L. Skala of Creve Coeur, Mo., was able to pull the van off the highway onto the shoulder and exit the vehicle. He was not injured. Lincoln Rural Fire Protection District was notified of the fire at 4:05 p.m. Nine firemen came to the scene, with two trucks from LRFPD and one truck from Broadwell. It took only about 15 minutes to get the fire under control, but firemen spent about an hour with the van. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time. There was a total of $5,000 damage to the van and its contents.

[SEPT. 22, 2000]  In yesterday’s paper, we covered a story of a head-on collision on Lincoln Parkway on Wednesday afternoon. At the time we reported that 19-year-old James Dullenty’s condition was unknown. Dullenty was moved out of the Intensive Care Unit this morning and is in stable condition at St. John’s Hospital in Springfield.

[click here for earlier article about accident]

[SEPT. 22, 2000]  When Main Street Lincoln has its Harvest Fest on Saturday, a ribbon-cutting will help celebrate the renovation of a number of downtown businesses. The ceremony to mark the building renewal program will be held at 9:30 a.m. on the south lawn of the Logan County Courthouse.

[click here for picture page]

Twelve of the properties in the process of facade restoration were funded in part by an Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) Enhancement Grant. IDOT paid for 80 percent of the work; the property owners paid for the remaining 20 percent. Other properties downtown have been restored by owners.

Many of the buildings in the IDOT program are on Pulaski Street: three between Kickapoo and McLean, and three more between Kickapoo and Chicago. The first three include the Arcade building, at 511-519 Pulaski, owned by John Guzzardo. According to Jeff Byerline of Vancil Contracting Company, the firm which did the restoration for the program, the brick was washed and tuckpointed, windows were repaired, a neon sign was put up, and lighting was added. New awnings will complete the building project.

The adjoining 509 Pulaski building, also owned by Guzzardo, is finished except for putting up a sign, Byerline said.

The Logan County Title Company, at 507 Pulaski, was also tuckpointed, painted, and windows and metal trim repaired. Joan A. Parker is president of the title company.

In the next block, two law offices and the Alley-Bi Tavern were renovated under the IDOT grant.

The law office of Tom Funk at 427 Pulaski was washed and tuckpointed and the metal trim at the tops of the windows repaired. New doors were added, and the building is waiting for leaded glass to be installed. Funk said he was pleased with the work that has been done and called the Vancil firm very professional. "They kept us up to date on the progress being made and how long it was going to take," he said. He expects the leaded glass to be in next month.

The law office of John Turner, 419 Pulaski, was acid washed and had windows repaired. It still needs light fixtures, according to Byerline.

The Alley-Bi Saloon, at 415-417 Pulaski, is 95 percent done, needing only a couple of pieces of glass. Owner Ricky Garrett said he was pleased with the results.

Jane Wright, owner of the State Farm Insurance Agency building at 200 South Chicago, on the corner of Pulaski and Chicago, was also pleased with the final appearance of the building, which is complete except for a new door. It was washed and tuckpointed, and windows and metal trim were repaired.

"The folks that worked on my building were fantastic," she said. "They were courteous, and they were sticklers for detail. They pulled me out of the office three or four times a day to be sure that what they were painting and where they were painting it was what I wanted."

She said she chose the colors for the building with the help of an architect from the Illinois Historical Preservation Agency. "They helped me choose color placement and exact colors. I’m very happy with the outcome."

Across the street from the State Farm building, at 128-130 South Chicago, the structure has been painted but still needs new storefront glass and leaded glass over the doorway. It will soon house an office of the Sun Loan Company, a San Antonio-based firm which has an office in Bloomington and is planning to locate other offices in Peoria, Decatur and Champaign.

"The new tenants are delighted with the way the building looks," said Ivan Ray, manager for the trust that owns the building. He expects the new glass to be installed next week.

[to top of second column in this article]

"In my relationship with the city and the contractor, everything was up front; I knew exactly what the cost was going to be," Ray said. "Grant Eaton, city IDOT contractor, was very amenable to changes that might be necessary to make the project look better. I think when the project is done the whole community will be proud."

On Broadway Street, the building housing the Lincoln campus of Heartland Community College has had an entirely new façade installed, including brickwork and new doors and windows. It still needs an awing and light fixtures.

At 519-521 Broadway, between Chicago and Kickapoo, two buildings belonging to Larry Steffens have been tuckpointed, painted, and windows repaired. An awing will be installed over Action Rental, and it will have a solid oak door to match the door on Sorrentos, Steffens said.

"We are very, very pleased with this," he told the Lincoln Daily News. "We got about $67,000 worth of restoration for about $11,000 cost. " He said the Vancil firm rebuilt all the windows upstairs on the buildings — windows which hadn’t been opened for 40 years — and put up new period signs for each of the businesses.

Renovation is just beginning at 513 Broadway, the former home of Edward Jones Investments. That firm recently moved to a new building on Kickapoo and Clinton Streets, and the renovation did not begin until they vacated the building. The building will get a complete new front, Byerline said, and it should be done by the end of October.

Two buildings on Sangamon Street, 201 and 205, owned by Larry Crisafulli and Dale Bassi, are also in the renovation program. One of the buildings is still surrounded by a wooden barricade, but painting is proceeding on the upper stories. New windows and leaded glass will be added.

Crisafulli said the contractor is replacing or restoring all windows on the second floor and has removed all the old paint. He said during the restoration of the building which houses Elder Cycle, workers discovered an entirely new entrance. The entrance may have been covered up since the last time the building was rehabbed, probably in the 1920s.

"We seem to be working very well with the contractor," Crisafulli told the Lincoln Daily News. He and Bassi will be restoring the interior of both buildings as well as constructing apartments on the upper story.

Main Street Lincoln will also honor other businesses that "have invested in downtown Lincoln" by renovating their buildings during the year 2000, said Program Manager Wendy Bell. These include the Carpenter’s Union building on Chicago Street, which is being renovated by Vancil but is not part of the IDOT program; Steffens’ Grapes and Grounds building on Sangamon Street; the Farm Bureau building on McLean Street; and the new Edward Jones building. Buildings in the IDOT program will be identified with blue ribbons and balloons, and the others with red ribbons and balloons.

[Joan Crabb]

[SEPT. 22, 2000]  A fire ignited yesterday afternoon in the kitchen of the Woodlawn Café at 926 Woodlawn Road. 926 Woodlawn Road. The blaze started at the fryers, exterior grease caught fire, and flames spread throughout the kitchen and part of the dining room. Fortunately, the flames did not reach the freezers.

The Lincoln City Fire Department was notified at approximately 4:30 p.m. They called Lincoln Rural Fire Protection District for a two-man, one-truck backup, since the rural department is actually closer to the cafe. Lincoln City Fire sent 11 men, including their chief, with engines No. 1 and No. 4 and the No. 1 squad vehicle. They used a 1¾-inch hand-line and water to quench the flames. The firemen spent two hours fighting the fire, checking that all the hot spots were extinguished and cleaning up.

Investigators Tim Aper and Jim Davis assessed the cafe's damage to be $40,000 to $45,000. All of the food and supplies in the kitchen were lost. The food in the freezers may be salvageable, because the flames did not reach that area.

[The fire damage in the main dining room at the cafe appears to be mostly in the ceiling.  Most of the damage was reported to be in the kitchen.]

Word spread fast between regular patrons that their favorite cafe might not be open for their morning coffee, breakfast, lunch or dinner. An ever-changing crowd gathered, commiserating and consoling one another.

Some of the comments made by steadfast customers were these:

"I don't know what I'll do; I eat here twice a day."

"I get my coffee here every morning. I'll miss my friends I have here, because I see and talk to the same people every day. If I come in two hours later, it's not the same; it's an all-new crowd that I don't know."

"They [the Dave Sherrer family] have done so much [fund-raisers] for other people whenever they could."

[LDN]

[SEPT. 22, 2000]  Raises for three city employees — the mayor, the treasurer and the city clerk — were approved by the Lincoln City Council at its regular meeting Monday evening. The raises, the first in 11 years, will see the mayor’s pay go from $10,000 to $12,000, the treasurer’s pay from $3,000 to $5,000, and the city clerk’s pay from a starting salary of $32,000 to a starting salary of $37,000.

[to top of second column in this article]

[SEPT. 21, 2000]  Mason City has a new hometown hero, Victor Wunderle. The 24-year-old Mason City native is bringing home the Olympic silver medal in men’s individual archery. Wunderle, a Texas A&M student, took time out and has devoted full time to working toward his Olympic goals for a year now.

The opening competition consists of all 64 competitors shooting 72 arrows, 70 meters. The scores rank the individual archers. Then they begin competing as matched pairs for the second round, shooting only 12 arrows. Half of the competitors are eliminated each round until only four remain. The last two rounds they shoot only 12 arrows.

In Monday’s second round, Victor Wunderle (U.S.) won out over defendant Serhiy Antonov (Ukraine) with a score of 152-151, which promoted Wunderle into Wednesday’s elite quarterfinals. Competition continued in matched pairs, with the higher score of each pair going on to the semifinals. In the semifinal round, all four remaining competitors go head to head, shooting just one round of 12 arrows. The four scores determine fourth place, third place bronze metal, second place silver medal and first place gold medal.

[to top of second column in this article]

Wunderle continues his Olympic competition by representing the USA in team competition. Other members of the three-man team are Butch Johnson of Woodstock, Conn., and Rod White of Waterloo, Iowa.

Their schedule is as follows:

Archery with men's team 1/8 eliminations

Men's team quarterfinals

Men's team semifinals

Men's team bronze medal match

Men's team gold medal match on Friday, Sept. 22.

[LDN]

[see Olympic archery results below]

Men's individual first round
    Jang Yong-Ho (South Korea) def. Kuresa Tupua (American Samoa) 172-98
    Hasan Orbay (Turkey) def. Juan Carlos Manjarrez Godinez (Mexico) 165-153
    Baljinima Tsyrempilov (Russia) def. Peter Ebden (New Zealand) 168-147
    Bartosz Mikos (Poland) def. Fu Shengjun (China) 157-155
    Oh Kyo-moon (South Korea) def. Dominic John Rebelo (Kenya) 168-132
    Butch Johnson (U.S.) def. Peter Koprivnikar (Slovenia) 164-151
    Matteo Bisiani (Italy) def. Martinus Grov (Norway) 166-158
    Masafumi Makiyama (Japan) def. Alexandr Li (Kazakhstan) 151-150
    Kim Chung-tae (South Korea) def. Yehya Bundhun (Mauritius) 169-141
    Ilario di Buo (Italy) def. Yuji Hamano (Japan) 163-158
    Michele Frangilli (Italy) def. Lars Erik Humlekjaer (Norway) 168-158
    Scott Hunter-Russell (Australia) def. Ozdemir Akbal (Turkey) 154-146
    Baard Nesteng (Norway) def. Henk Vogels (Netherlands) 158-149
    Sebastien Flute (France) def. Serdar Satir (Turkey) 160-156
    Rodney White (U.S.) def. Francois Latil (Vanuatu) 158-145
    Fred van Zutphen (Netherlands) def. Jari Lipponen (Finland) 161-155
    Wietse van Alten (Netherlands) def. Miika Aulio (Finland) 163-160
    Grzegorz Targonski (Poland) def. Takayoshi Matsushita (Japan) 166-164
    Stanislav Zabrodskiy (Kazakhstan) def. Essam Sayed (Egypt) 166-149
    Niklas Eriksson (Sweden) def. Rob Rusnov (Canada) 161-155
    Christian Stubbe (Germany) def. Lionel Torres (France) 163-161
    Yang Bo (China) def. Viktor Kurchenko (Ukraine) 164-155
    Tang Hua (China) def. Matthew Gray (Australia) 163-161
    Magnus Petersson (Sweden) def. Nuno Pombo (Portugal) 165-146
    Victor Wunderle (U.S.) def. Cristobal Antonio Merlos (El Salvador) 160-150
    Nico Hendrickx (Belgium) def. Jubzang (Bhutan) 162-156
    Serhiy Antonov (Ukraine) def. Bair Badenov (Russia) 164-153
    Vadim Shikarev (Kazakhstan) def. Mattias Eriksson (Sweden) 158-156
    Ismely Arias (Cuba) def. Igor Parkhomenko (Ukraine) 164-160
    Simon Needham (Britain) def. Ken Uprichard (New Zealand) 160-155
    Jocelyn de Grandis (France) def. Iouri Leontiev (Russia) 171-163
    Simon Fairweather (Australia) def. Juan Carlos Stevens (Cuba) 170-161

Men’s individual second round
    Oh Kyo-Moon (South Korea) def. Butch Johnson (U.S.) 166-160
    Masafumi Makiyama (Japan) def. Matteo Bisiani (Italy) 162-159
    Michele Frangilli (Italy) def. Scott Hunter-Russell (Australia) 164-154
    Kim Chung-Tae (South Korea) def. Ilario di Buo (Italy) 162-159
    Fred van Zutphen (Netherlands) def. Rodney White (U.S.) 153-152
    Sebastien Flute (France) def. Baard Nesteng (Norway) 160-148
    Wietse van Alten (Netherlands) def. Grzegorz Targonski (Poland) 160-157
    Stanislav Zabrodskiy (Kazakhstan) def. Niklas Eriksson (Sweden) 163-146
    Victor Wunderle (U.S.) def. Serhiy Antonov (Ukraine) 152-151
    Vadim Shikarev (Kazakhstan) def. Nico Hendrickx (Belgium) 154-151
    Ismely Arias (Cuba) def. Simon Needham (Britain) 164-164 (tiebreak 9-8)
    Simon Fairweather (Australia) def. Jocelyn de Grandis (France) 161-150
    Magnus Petersson (Sweden) def. Tang Hua (China) 157-148
    Yang Bo (China) def. Christian Stubbe (Germany) 159-152
Wednesday, Sept. 20
Men’s individual 70m quarterfinals

Wietse van Alten, Netherlands, def. Sebastien Flute, France, 106-102

Magnus Petersson, Sweden, def. Kim Chung-Tae, South Korea, 112-111

Victor Wunderle, Mason City, Ill., def. Oh Kyo-Moon, South Korea, 108-105

Simon Fairweather, Australia, def. Baljinima Tsyrempilov, Russia, 113-104

Semifinals

Victor Wunderle, Mason City, Ill., def. Magnus Petersson, Sweden, 108-107

Simon Fairweather, Australia, def. Wietse van Alten, Netherlands, 112-110

Wietse van Alten, Netherlands, def. Magnus Petersson, Sweden, 114-109

Simon Fairweather, Australia, def. Victor Wunderle, Mason City, Ill., 113-106

[SEPT. 21, 2000]  There was a fatal car accident yesterday on Lincoln Parkway. The driver of a 1993 Ford Escort is believed to have entered the northbound lanes near Tropics Restaurant and headed south. Two cars swerved around the Escort, but the driver of a Pontiac Grand Am could not. The two vehicles collided about three-tenths of a mile north of Fifth Street on Lincoln Parkway. The police were notified at 4:27 p.m. The coroner and deputy coroner pronounced the 93-year-old driver of the Escort dead at the scene. They have not yet released his name. The 19-year-old driver of the Grand Am, James M. Dullenty of Greenview, was taken to St. John’s Hospital in Springfield. LDN was unable to obtain a report about his condition other than that he was going into surgery this morning. Both drivers were wearing their seat belts. An air bag deployed in the Dullehty vehicle and is believed to have saved him from more serious injury.

[LDN]

District 27 board hears two sides
of new-school issue

[SEPT. 21, 2000]  The Lincoln School District 27 board heard a request Wednesday evening from a citizens group that wants to prevent tearing down Central Elementary and Lincoln Junior High schools. At the same meeting, the board also reviewed a memo from the architect hired to build the new schools, suggesting that the costs of renovation could be higher than the costs of the new construction.

The Save Our Schools Citizens Committee (SOSCC), a group that is dedicated to preserving both schools, requested that District 27 schedule a hearing on the historic value of the buildings before its referendum Nov. 7. The referendum asks district voters to authorize the sale of $4.1 million in bonds to cover the district’s share of construction costs for the new schools. The referendum must be passed before the district can receive state funding of $8,318,181 to complete the $12 million construction project.

The language in the referendum, specifically "build two new school buildings and demolish Lincoln Junior High and Central Elementary School," makes it mandatory that a review and public hearing be held before the referendum, according to SOSCC member Valecia Crisafulli.

Because 73 percent of the funding for the new schools will come from the state, the project must be evaluated by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA) and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). The IHPA must determine whether the site is a historic resource. SOSCC members believe the schools, particularly Central School, have historic value and should be renovated rather than destroyed.

The request to initiate action on the hearing was made by David Lanterman, SOSCC member. Lanterman said the review process must take place prior to the election to adhere to state law and to let the community know all the options available. He also gave the board and Superintendent Robert Kidd a manual showing how many other communities have saved older schools.

Crisafulli also addressed the board, asking them to "act responsibly" by scheduling the hearing now. The hearing will present "a formal review of all feasible and prudent options" regarding the school construction project, and holding such a hearing after the referendum would be a sham, she said, because if the referendum passes, the only option available will be to demolish the two schools.

"We have been reminding the school board of this responsibility since last spring," Crisafulli told the Lincoln Daily News. "We sent them a letter in June calling for this. This should be no surprise to them."

However, Bill Bates, school board president, disagreed with SOSCC. "It is my understanding that the hearing is not mandated at this juncture. This is not consistent with information given us by our architect and our attorney," he said.

Board member Leta Herrington asked if there was any reason not to hold the hearing. Bates replied that he saw no reason to do so. Herrington said that holding the hearing before the referendum would give the public a more accurate idea of the alternatives.

[to top of second column in this article]

Elaine Knight, membership chairman of the Lincoln Elementary Education Association (LEEA), told the board and the audience that she wished to correct any misconception that the organization had not had input on the process of building the new schools. "We had input all along in all processes," she said.

She said LEEA has taken a formal stand and was supporting the new building project. "This is what is best for our children, their children and their grandchildren," she said. "We are very pleased the board is going on with the referendum." She also said the teachers organization had contributed financially to support the referendum.

Many of the dozen District 27 faculty members who attended the board meeting were wearing red buttons which said, "Kids First! Vote yes!"

Dr. Kidd also handed out a letter from architect Dave Leonatti discussing historic renovation versus new construction. The letter was to clear up "misconceptions about the construction costs, scope of work required for each, and relative quality of each option," and indicated that renovation could become more costly than new construction.

Leonatti’s letter said that a new school "will be in every way equal to or greater in quality and longevity of service as a renovated school. … For opponents of the new construction option to claim the new schools will not equal the existing buildings in quality or appearance is inaccurate and misleading." The architectural firm would design "state-of-the-art buildings with historic features and use appropriate scale and materials to match the residential and city neighborhoods."

The letter also said that while renovation and new construction options are relatively the same cost if no major changes are made to the existing schools, the cost for renovation would probably be greater than the cost of new construction "if more extensive structural repairs or reconstruction is undertaken in the existing schools."

These changes could include replacing floor systems with steel structural elements, shoring up foundations because of soil bearing inadequacies, and removing and cleaning up lead-based paint. Central School does have lead-based paint present, the letter pointed out, and test borings indicate potential soil bearing problems there. The need for additional foundation underpinning "is greatly increased for the renovated Central School option," the architect’s letter said.

"The board discussed the renovation option and the architect has stated that the potential for unforeseen conditions is greater for a renovated building than a new construction project," the letter concluded.

[Joan Crabb]

Back to top

Top Stories | Sports News | Sports Talk | Area Athletes in Action | Out and About | TechLine | Weather | Elsewhere

A Day in the Life... | Milestones | Obituaries | Diaspora

Business & Ag | Organizations | Events | Good Neighbors | Honors & Awards

Ombudsman | Law & Courts | Rural Review

Crosswords | Games

The Arts | Home and Family | Spiritual Life | Health & Fitness | Teaching & Learning | Book Look | Movies & Videos

Still Waters | The Hallway Buzz | What's Up With That? | Where They Stand | the em space
How We Stack Up | By the Numbers

Letters to the Editor | About LDN | Corrections | Happy Ads | Quick Coupon Clip-Outs