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To
be honest, my thoughts on creating a 300-foot statue of Honest Abe for
all the world to come and see are unbelievably preposterous. The
concept of a theme park maintaining the draw of tourists, and thus
their dollars, into our area is by far the biggest wild and crazy
dream I have ever heard in my 20 years as a Lincoln resident. In
short, I absolutely love the idea.
The
proposal is to build this huge statue of Abe somewhere out in the
sticks convenient to Interstate 55.
Studies
have shown that attractions that are easy to find by tourists
unfamiliar with a region draw better than those that are difficult to
find. Right off a major highway sounds like a good place to me ―
especially since people will be able to see this thing once they leave
their driveway in Idaho.
Davis
mentioned such monuments as the Eiffel Tower and Mount Rushmore in his
presentation. Those structures, of course, have put those areas in
every travel brochure on the planet. Why not Lincoln, Ill., I have to
ask.
Now
there is a lot to be done before something as monumental as this could
become reality. Funding is the No. 1 dark shadow in this dream. A
location close to Lincoln but not too close has to be purchased, and
the final determination of what this new attraction will become needs
to be ironed out.
Forgive
me, but my juices are flowing, and I have to tell you what I envision.
Obviously the behemoth will be the focal point of this park. But a
statue will only cause people to stop for the day and then be on their
way. We need to have something that will cause people to decide to
spend a vacation here in our area.
How
about the area surrounding the statue being a replica of what the town
looked like when Abe Lincoln christened it? This doesn't have to be
anything more than the facades, à
la Disney World, but the effect of
feeling like you are walking back in time could be remarkable. Anyone
who has ever visited Disney's Magic Kingdom knows exactly what I mean.
Restaurants, souvenir shops, museums, tourism offices and a world of
other income-generating businesses could be placed inside these
storefronts. Imagine the potential jobs from such an endeavor. Hotels
in the area would become packed, causing more tourism fees to be
collected. Lincoln stores and restaurants would be filled, generating
sales-tax revenues to help lower our property taxes. And, in the end,
these people who just left their hard-earned dollars with us go back
home, and Lincoln, Ill., is still Lincoln, Ill. Ask the people in
Galena or Lake Geneva or Charleston if their towns aren’t better off
from the tourists who visit them each year.
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column in this commentary]
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I know
this will sound pompous, but so be it. A historical theme park based
on heritage and information will be visited by good people ―
families just like yours and mine. This isn't the type of attraction
that will draw people who have cuss words tattooed all over their
bodies. This is the type of entertainment that will bring the best in
our area and perhaps even the world to the doorway of Logan County.
All of them will be seeking wholesome entertainment and a place to
relieve themselves of their cash. What could possibly be wrong with
that?
There is
another benefit to Pastor Davis' proposal. The idea is a positive
dream. In the event nothing comes of it, perhaps just for a while
Logan County can debate a terrific positive rather than negative about
our community. Perhaps just for a while we can dream that we can live
in a good, safe town with wonderful neighbors, all the while having a
lower cost of living than that of surrounding communities. Remember
towns such as Branson, Mo., and Metropolis, Ill., before you shuck
this idea off as impossible. Orlando, Fla., didn't 30 years ago. I
wonder if we will.
I hope all of you contact me
with your thoughts on what this park should be. I will forward all
ideas to Pastor Davis and his group. These dreamers, I am sure, will
be delighted to hear your hopes for turning Logan County into the
best. There is a delight in a dream when it is shared by others.
[Mike Fak]
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here to comment on this article.
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In
the event you are a breathing human being, you must have heard about
the Lincoln Police confiscating mayoral candidate Jason Harlow's two
pet alligators, Damien and Chewy. To make matters worse for Harlow, he
was cited for a violation of the endangered species act and was forced
to watch his two little pals transported down to Springfield to a
nautical halfway house while this whole toothy issue gets sorted out.
Harlow
has claimed this filching of his pets was politically motivated by
either Beth Davis or Mayor Joan Ritter to stymie his attempts to beat
both of them in next week’s primary. Chances are the truth of that
matter will probably never be known and all we have is Harlow's
conjecture as to the reason for the legal usurping of his pets by
Lincoln's boys in blue.
The
police say they acted upon advice of State’s Attorney Tim Huyett,
but Huyett has been quick to advise us he was informed of the
incarceration of the mini-predators after the fact and has stated for
the record that although alligators are considered part of the reptile
family that the whole affair is a bit fishy due to its timing.
Lincoln
Police Chief Ludolph has walked an excellent backward step by saying
that Huyett was informed of the procurement but that the police did
not necessarily receive instructions from the state’s attorney to
bust up this ring of future cowboy-boot creators.
Jason
Harlow, in the meantime, is forced to worry about his two little pets
and whether they will be returned, set free in Florida or be sent to
alligator heaven.
I
usually like to say "only in America." Sometimes it seems I
have the availability of saying "only in Lincoln."
I
know some of you will feel I am making light of Harlow’s two little
pets. I'm sorry if it seems that way, because I can understand how a
person can become attached to a family pet. I have had dogs and cats
in my life, and every one of them carries some fond memory in my
recollections. To be honest, I never had a pet that had 40 or 50 teeth
shaped like razors, but hey, at 21 inches long, does anyone really
consider these alligators dangerous?
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column in this commentary]
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In
the event the city really wants to put the bite on dangerous animals,
they need only talk to the daily runners, joggers and walkers in this
community. Every one of them will tell you the addresses of dogs in
this community that, for want of a better word, are dirt mean. On many
occasions these animals also have free reign over the neighborhood
they intimidate without worry of being sent to a pound or their owners
being cited for unleashed and dangerous pets.
In
my three years of writing, I have received perhaps a thousand calls,
letters and communications regarding various topics. None, however,
has come close to the number of complaints I have received about a
nasty dog chasing after a Lincolnite just trying to use a sidewalk.
I
doubt seriously if a Lincoln jogger will ever write me a letter
stating they have been chased by a baby alligator as they foray
through the streets of Lincoln. But, hey, this is Lincoln and one
never knows.
It
is not up to me to decide what precipitated this whole episode.
Perhaps Harlow is correct in his statements that this is a political
move to undermine his running for mayor. Perhaps he is, in honesty,
dead wrong and is just a victim of his own press releases, since he
has been going about town telling everyone he has baby alligators. You
folks can decide the reality or falsehood of his claims.
For
me the issue is as clear as the Florida swamp was before man moved to
the Everglades. In the event there is a law prohibiting the
maintaining of alligators as pets in Logan County, Harlow is wrong in
having the little buggers. In the event the only law Harlow is
supposed to have broken is that his diminutive little pals are
dangerous, I’m sorry. I have to tell authorities. Get real.
[Mike Fak]
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here to comment on this article.
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