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 Economic development
Atlanta started the year with a move toward economic growth for the
city as aldermen discussed and voted on the requests that would
bring a new truck stop and other businesses to Atlanta near the
Interstate 55 exchange.
At their March 5th meeting, aldermen heard from Jeff
Giebelhausen, who was hired to be the city’s development consultant,
he recommended that the council work with developers Bishap, Shawn,
and Amit Patel to build a travel plaza that would include a truck
stop, convenience store, car wash and a Dairy Queen Grill and Chill
restaurant.
On December 14th, Bill Thomas of the Logan County
Economic Development Partnership issued a press release saying that
the purchase of the desired property had been completed and that the
developers were ready to move forward with the construction of the
plaza.
03/07 -
Large new retail business complex to
break ground in Atlanta this spring
Complex includes Truck Stop, Convenience Store, Car Wash, and
Dairy Queen Grill and Chill
12/14 -
Land Purchase Moves Atlanta Truck Stop
Project Forward
In September Mount Pulaski also announced it had plans for economic
growth. LDN brought you the story on how the community is going to
be working together to finance a new type of grocery store. This
novel action is being taken after the loss of the local IGA.
Market on the Hill was brought to the public just days before the
annual Mount Pulaski Fall Festival. In an open meeting, guests
enjoyed foods prepared from local growers and heard from the Market
on the Hill interim Board of Directors about how the entire
community would be partial owners of the new market.
Interim board member Tom Martin explained that shares and food
cooperative memberships would be sold to finance the store. Within
days, the board was delighted to report that they had received an
overwhelming response to their request for community involvement.
About 50 percent of the funding needed was gathered together within
the first couple days and at the fall festival it was announced that
the investment guarantees the board had collected were enough to get
started on the renovation of a building located on the historic
Mount Pulaski Courthouse Square.
It is the intention of the board to have the market opened in the
early part of 2020.
9/20 -
Market on the Hill kicks off with
strong positive support from the community
Push for Market on the Hill funding off
to a terrific start - Album
In Lincoln a new group was formed in 2019 to tackle the task of
economic development within the city. The L.E.A.D. group, made up
of local CEO’s and entrepreneurs have established a committee and
have also invested personal cash into the committee to hire the
experts that will be needed to bring economic growth to the city.
The group, represented by Dr. David Gerlach of Lincoln College and
local business owner Chris Graue addressed the Lincoln City
Council. They came not to ask for financial support, but rather to
seek a letter of endorsement from the city that would assist the
group in obtaining its not-for-profit status.
10/17 -
Local CEO’s take the L.E.A.D. on
economic development in Lincoln
In February, 2019, the Atlanta city council made a rather
controversial decision to purchase the Atlanta Golf Course.
The decision to buy the North Greens Golf Course was supposed to
have been put to voters as a referendum on the April ballot.
However, the aldermen decided to take the decision into their own
hands in February because there was work that needed to be done at
the course in preparation for the spring season. If the city waited
until April then it would have to open late in the year and would
jeopardize some of its membership as well as revenues from the
course.
02/07 -
City of Atlanta to purchase Atlanta
Golf Course
North Greens Golf Course
- Link
In February, Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital announced a new
partnership with the Lincoln Area YMCA. A new YMCA facility will be
built along Woodlawn Road in Lincoln on property owned by ALMH.
The new $27 million facility will offer amenities that have not been
offered through the local YMCA in the past including an indoor
swimming pool, physical therapy/workout rooms, day care facilities
and much more.
2/21 -
ALMH & YMCA partner for new $27 million
facility in Lincoln
A few weeks later at a meeting of the Lincoln City Council, ALMH
came forward with a request for the city to pay for building an
extension to Stahlhut Drive that would connect it to Woodlawn Road.
Along with the request, the hospital offered to finance the city
with $1.3 million through a low interest loan.
The new road will make for faster access to the hospital for
ambulances coming from the west. The road will also connect to
Castle Manor Drive for much faster access to the hospital from
Castle Manor and St. Clara’s Rehab & Senior care.
03/14 -
ALMH requests city to extend Stahlhut
Drive at $1.3 million
Offers low interest financing
03/21 -
Lincoln aldermen accept ALMH $1.3
million financing for Stahlhut Drive extension
In June, Heritage Packaging in Lincoln announced that it would
become a member of the Welch Packaging family. According to current
manager Greg Basford the purchase of the local manufacturer by Welch
Packaging was a very positive step in the right direction for
Heritage. All staff were to be retained and the company was not
going to be moved out of the Lincoln area. The benefits were that
Welch packaging offered resources that were not available to
Heritage, Basford said. The purchase would increase the local
manufacturing plants ability to sustain and compete in the market
place.
06/01 -
Heritage Packaging becomes part of the
Welch Packaging family
On the downside
While there were a lot of good things going on in the Logan County
area pertaining to economic development, there were also a few hard
blows to the community. Closures of the ‘bottle factory,’ Alexander
Lumber and the administrative offices at Christian Village made the
news at various points throughout the year.
01/10 -
Alexander Lumber Co. to close or merge
seven Illinois lumberyards
Lincoln store among the stores listed
02/01 -
Lincoln “Bottle Factory” to close April
30th
09/20 -
Christian Homes announces closure of
Lincoln Business Office
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On the healthcare front
There were a number of news stories focusing on healthy initiatives
in Logan County.
2/14 -
St. Clara's Rehab &
Senior Care celebrates first year at new location with a look back
to the past
03/01
-
ALMH introduces new Senior Life
Solutions – multifaceted day program eases life transitions
04/27 -
Logan County Department
of Public Health receives first Mother’s Milk Depository donation
11/21 -
Getting the kind of medical care you need and deserve in central
Illinois
Retirees
Four well-known community members announced their retirement from
local positions including Lincoln Fire Chief Mark Miller, Lincoln
Public Library Director Richard Sumrall, Lincoln Community High
School District 404 Superintendent Robert Bagby, Logan County
Emergency Management Agency Director Dan Fulscher and Lincoln Park
District Executive Director John Andrews.
01/30
-
Lincoln Fire Chief Mark Miller
announces retirement plans
Mayor recommends Asst. Chief Bob Dunovsky as Miller’s replacement
04/17 -
Lincoln Fire Chief Mark Miller
remembers his history with the department - Pdf
07/11 -
LCHS Superintendent Robert Bagby decade
broadens student opportunities
08/23 -
Retiring administrators see Lincoln
Public Library into electronic age
12/18 -
Abigail O’Brien to become Lincoln Park
District Executive Director
Local attractions, recreation and tourism
Around the area, there were some significant events and activities
that had an impact on our community and our tourism industry. There
were also developments which will have a long term impact on our
quality of life as Logan County residents.
This year the Lincoln Park District announced it would be reclaiming
a portion of Memorial Park, taking it back to its native
vegetation. The LPD also asked that it be deeded several of the
city park properties now owned by the city of Lincoln. The request
was made so that the LPD could seek grant funding to make
improvements at the parks.
04/22 -
Lincoln Park District announces natural
restoration plan for Memorial Park
12/02 -
Lincoln Park District seeks deeds to
four city owned parks
In Atlanta, the Atlanta Museum was chosen to be one of the select
few that housed the traveling Smithsonian exhibit “Crossroads.”
02/04 -
Smithsonian’s traveling exhibit
“Crossroads: Change in Rural America” meshes perfectly with
Atlanta’s historical works on education and its impact
Now open - A must see
Atlanta Smithsonian Museum on Main
Street - Album
Atlanta Visitors Center opening
coincides with Smithsonian Exhibit - Album
And, as the Logan County Tourism Bureau worked to transform the
recently restored Lincoln Depot into a visitors center for all those
coming into the area, the State Bank of Lincoln agreed to allow the
LCTB to be the new home of the well-known Lincoln Christening Statue
by Edna Goodenough. On a fun and exciting day in February, the crew
from Brad Matthews Construct literally walked Lincoln across the
road and railroad tracks from the State Bank Sangamon Branch to the
Lincoln Depot Visitor Center.
2/16 -
State Bank of Lincoln’s “Christening
Lincoln” statue now on-spot in the Lincoln Depot
Why
did Lincoln cross the road? To get to the Depot! - slideshow
The tourism bureau also partnered with the communities of Atlanta,
Elkhart, and Mount Pulaski to establish new visitor centers for
travelers entering the respective communities. With the placement
of centers in these three towns plus the center in Lincoln, tourists
have an opportunity to learn more about the county and its
historical aspects at any community they stop in coming off of major
highways that pass through the county.
03/30 -
Logan County Tourism Bureau to fund
Atlanta, Elkhart and Mount Pulaski visitors centers
Press release:
Visitor Welcome Centers Planned for
Logan County
Weather
And finally, as we close the NEWS chapter of the LDN year in review,
let’s talk about the weather.
Our new year has started on a very mild note. We ended the year
with above normal temperatures and many enjoyed shirt sleeves and
light jackets on Christmas Day. However, 2019 was not so mellow and
by the end of January, we were breaking records, but not in a good
way!
01/31 -
Central Illinois sees Jan 30th daily
records fall Lincoln’s -12F in 1936 fell with -19 F
Logan County saw a windchill of -40 at
5:50 a.m. Wednesday
Listed alphabetically by county
Spring flooding this year also had a significant impact on the
community. As the heavy rains fell right at planting season, the
progress of local farmers was hindered in many areas.
05/02 -
Heavy rains impact travel on county
roadways - Album
Scenes from Nicholson Street
bridge at Kickapoo Creek
05/19 -
Many areas around Lincoln impacted with flooding from last week's
rains - Album
And, while it didn’t warrant a news story, the fact that the first
heavy snow of the season fell on Halloween – October 31st
did not go un-noticed.
----
So, all in all, LDN spent the year bringing our readers the
important local news that they needed and wanted to know. The goal
of the paper has always been to share community news and bring to
light through unbiased reporting the issues that are of importance
to all of us.
Our records show that our efforts have paid off through a tremendous
following of readers. In 2019, we averaged 15,052 readers per day.
In the month of December we hit our record high with an average of
22,656 visitors per day to Lincolndailynews.com. This tells us
we’re doing something right, and we believe what we are doing right
is giving our readers what they want from a local news source.
Thanks to all who read LDN. You make all our work worthwhile!
[N SMITH / LDN ARCHIVES] |
