Community News
School board raises Drivers Education Fee to $75
Demolition of Benld School anticipated to start in the fall
During a regular scheduled board meeting on May 21, 2012, the school board raised the driver’s education fee from $50 to $75 after minimal discussion. Assistant Superintendent Joe Tieman asked the board if they could increase the fee to attempt to offset the expenses.
Superintendent Paul Skeans added that the school board held a public hearing on May 21 to discuss the increase in cost. The hearing was mandatory for the change to be adopted. According to Mark Hayes, the board can raise the fee to the $250 maximum. “We are still one of the lowest districts in Macoupin County and this is just to try to decrease our cost,” Mark Hayes explained. The board went on to approve the raise with no objections.
District Architect Tom Hyde explained to the board that he is working with DNR to finalize the Intergovernmental Agreement for the grant for the demolition of the existing school in Benld. “It is not finalized yet,” Hyde noted, “We are still working on estimates. They go off the estimate.” According to Hyde, the work can begin once everyone is in agreement on the cost.
“DNR reimburses the district on a monthly basis,” Hyde added. The funds are coming federal funds that the state receives for mine work. He noted that the demolition would begin in the fall and would be complete around spring. “You used to be able to tear a building down and throw it somewhere, but you don’t do that anymore. There is a lot of sorting of materials.”
He even went on to add that he working with DNR about polymerizing the concrete into gravel. The gravel would then be used at the new school. “If it doesn’t work for that, we can use it for someone else.” The site will be able to smoothed out in spring of 2013.
Hyde then moved on to the new elementary school. He explained that the mine grouting contract with Hayward Baker will be closed out in the next board meeting as the board is still receiving final waivers and other necessary final documents. He then went on to note that construction has been delayed for 2 weeks over the last 30 days due to heavy rains.
Mark Hayes noted that the maximum amount the board can raise the drivers education fee to is $250.
The foundation work is 80% complete and all of the foundation work will be completed by June 1. The structural steel framework has been fabricated and 30% has been erected. According to Hyde, the steel frame erection is anticipated to be complete by June 15.
Finally under bid package 3, underground plumbing work has been underway and is following behind the foundation work. “Site grading is scheduled to start this week,” Hyde added. The masonry work at the north wing will begin the first or second week of June as the site become available.
Skeans then asked the board to re-evaluate the electrical service to the new school after the school board objected the $53,107 change order in the April board meeting. Skeans urged the board to pass the order to “beautify” the property. The change order would move all the electrical wiring underground.
“You can make it fully overhead, fully underground, or partially overhead and partially underground,” Skeans brought up again. He went on to say that he found out some additional information that “was not available last month.” Skeans attempted to persuade the board by explaining that the district could add lights to the baseball field later down the road because the poll box will be underground.
Tom Hyde and Skeans had a meeting on May 22 to “gather additional information.” After no board member bought on the persuasion, he explained that he will keep it on the agenda for the next month and the following month or until the board makes their second decision.
Dave Griffel brought up that he would like to have partial wiring underground and partial above ground. “I say we put all the wiring underground that is on our property,” Griffel started, “I don’t want to put underground power on property that is not even ours.” The change order would approve underground wiring 400 feet on someone else’s property. According to Griffel, 20% of the cost would be on property that the school does not even own. The board agreed to discuss the issue at the next board meeting.
Under personnel, the board appointment Jarrod Herron as high school scholar bowl coach for FSY 2013. They also hired Penny Feeley with Janice Hammann as back up for the summer school food service position. Lastly, the board accepted the resignation of Diane Van Winkle who serves as an elementary title reading teacher.
Superintendent Skeans updated the board on the Miner loyalty cards from United Community Bank. He thanked Jenni Alepra for starting the program three years ago. From April 2011 through March 2012, the debit cards have raised $1,954.46 for CUSD #7. “It is a direct donation from United Community Bank,” Skeans added. Right now, there are 194 Miner debit cards in use.
Joe Tieman then reported on the Civil Rights Audit that took place on May 10 on campus with focus on the high school and vocational education program. “The audit only found two minor citations,” Tieman noted. The citations were for notice of non-discrimination to be sent to the newspapers once a year and the second was about the student handbook. It needs to have a grievance policy contained.
District administers then updated the board on happenings in the campus buildings. Dennis Tiburzi, high school principal, noted that the final report cards were distributed on May 21. Summer school is scheduled to begin on May 29 and run through June 13 or 25 depending on the class. Tiburzi then highlighted that the Class of 2012 received scholarships in excess to $450,000. “Congratulations to them,” Tiburzi added.
In high school athletics, he congratulated the softball team on their regional championship; the track team for their Prairie State Conference championship, county track championship, and sectional championship; the boys track team on winning the Gillespie invitational and their second place finish in conference. Lastly, he congratulated Tateum Rosentreter on her 8th place finish at State.
Principal of the middle school, Lori Emmons, noted that the middle school promoted 110 students to high school. She congratulated Stephen DeMartini and Emily Harszy after they both won gold status at the State Science Fair. She then highlighted that Jill Rosentreter, 8th grade science teacher, was awarded the Dr. Lyell J. Thomas Award at the IJAS State Exposition. Lastly, Emmons noted that 20 students gave vocal performances or performed skits at the talent show held on May 17.
Emmons congratulated track athletes: Amanda Schmidt on her 5th place 400m dash finish and her 8th place 100m hurdlers finish at state. She then noted that Abby Eccles finished 8th in pole vault at state and Dyllon Penzotti finished 2nd in discus at state. “Congratulations on a successful track season,” Emmons closed.
Lastly, elementary principal Angela Turcol updated the board on grades K-5. She noted that 80 students got to go on lunch with the principal on May 11. They had a subway sandwich, chips, cookies, and drink. Turcol then told the board that the selections have been made for the Pre-K classes for the 2012-2013 school year. “We have approximately 25-30 students on the waiting list,” Turcol closed.
Comments
Contributed content
Dana Carr Skinner, 52, of Gillespie has announced her candidacy for Macoupin County Circuit Clerk. She will be on the November 5, 2024, General Election ballot.
Dana, a lifelong Macoupin County resident was born and raised in Wilsonville by her
parents, Barb and Van Baker. She graduated Gillespie High School in 1990 and attended SIUE
before starting her family. She has raised eight children all of whom graduated college or attended trade school. Dana is married to Todd Skinner.
Dana is currently a public servant, serving the people of Illinois as a paralegal. She has
over 25 years legal experience with 15 of those years being directly in the courtroom. She has
worked in law firms that practiced in all areas of the law from probate, family, civil, traffic,
criminal and real estate. After working several years in the legal field, Dana went back to college and obtained a paralegal degree.
Dana is running for Circuit Clerk because, “It is time for me give back to my community
and the residents of Macoupin County. Lee Byots Ross has done an amazing job as our current Circuit Clerk and I want to continue the work that she has accomplished. My adult life has been focused on my family and my children, and they are now grown. My focus now, would be to demonstrate to the residents of Macoupin County that I can and will do an excellent job as
Circuit Clerk,” Dana said.
The Circuit Clerk is responsible for establishing, maintaining and keeping all records of
the court, as well as several administrative, financial and public services.
“There are employees in the office now that have worked there a number of years, and I will be committed to them and their opinions, as well as the people the Macoupin County. I will learn from the current employees if I am elected in November and I believe that I have the experience, the knowledge and the work ethic that would make me an asset to the Circuit Clerks Office’s team,” Dana said.
Comments
United Mineworkers of America President Cecil Roberts will commemorate the 125th anniversary of Union Miners’ Cemetery in Mt. Olive on October 13. Ceremonies begin at noon with a short historical parade, Roberts, IL AFL-CIO President Tim Drea, and frequent labor music.
Afterward, a meal will be provided as the labor music continues. The event is free and open to the public. A portable chair is recommended.
The cemetery is located on near 5536 Mt. Olive Road in Mt. Olive and can be found by following North Lake Street.
—
Background of Union Miners Cemetery by the Mother Jones Museum:
The Union Miners Cemetery is in Mt. Olive, a small mining-town that was once the center of a rebellious group of miners who helped to secure Illinois as the solid rock for the United Mine Workers Union. Today thousands of visitors come each year to pay their respects to the memory to Mother Jones and the spirit that guided her and the founders of the labor movement in the United States. They reflect about the connections between the past and the present.
The cemetery was established in 1899, when commemorations of the miners killed in the 1898 “Virden riot” became controversial in the Mt. Olive cemetery where they were originally buried.
The bodies of the Virden “martyrs” were re-interred in a cemetery established as the Union Miners Cemetery by the Mt. Olive United Mine Workers local. Commemorations of these events in the following years contributed to a generation of activism in the Illinois coal fields.
They did this by claiming the kind of memorial space that was denied in other places, such as Haymarket, where police often disrupted commemorations. This built a sense of connection between past and present in the area, and made it clear that ordinary workers had changed the course of history. The role of the ordinary worker came into focus. Mt. Olive was one of the few places in the country where labor history was taught before the 1970s.
This is a unique place in the history of the labor movement; it was the only union-owned cemetery in the country. This is a place with a monument to Mother Jones, but it also evokes the power and potential of the labor movement. It is a place of reflection and remembering, of thinking of the labor movement’s roots. It is a shrine not only to Jones but to the sacrifices that connected human rights and labor rights, a place where people wonder when and why labor lost power.
Comments
When I decided to write this article, my original intent was to find out when they removed the rails down the middle of Macoupin Street, but I thought I might research when the railroads came and went in Gillespie. So here is a brief history!
In the 1850’s, railroads were becoming more important to the US for both transportation of people and goods. Chicago was the hub of railroad traffic in the west and cities throughout Illinois were vying to have railroads come through their section of the state. Having a railroad meant prosperity and growth. Towns would grow with increased population. The key question was where are the railroads going to go? Influence by key political people throughout the state was important.
Prominent people in the US and central Illinois like Judge Joseph Gillespie, William Mattoon, Electus B Litchfield and Robert Rantoul (Massachusetts senator) and others help bring the railroad south.
The move south was brought about by the chartering of the Terre-Haute & Alton Railroad in January 1851 out of Mattoon, Illinois. It was to extend south to Alton because legislators wanted Alton to compete with St. Louis in the growth of the area. The work was started in 1852 to originally go 172 miles. It was completed in March 1856. Extensions were created from Alton to Belleville and eventually to St. Louis. By 1857 the route was completed and a railroad went through Gillespie. The St. Louis connection was helped by the building of the Eads Bridge in 1874.
In June 1867, the Terre-Haute Alton Railroad was leased to the Indianapolis & St Louis Railroad but went into foreclosure in 1882 and sold to the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (known as the Big Four). This railroad came under control of Vanderbilt and the NY Central Railroad system.
The Terre-Haute Alton Railroad/Big Four Railroad came to Gillespie on an east west route. It passed through Gillespie today in the land next to the Civic Center, crossing Macoupin Street next to Subway. The Big Four Terminal was just off Macoupin Street where the Civic Center is located. There were additional terminals in Hornsby and Dorchester.
A 2nd railroad will add additional prosperity to Gillespie. The Illinois Traction System was a brainchild of William B. McKinley (not the president). He had a vision to create an electric railroad empire that covered at its peak 550 miles of rail.
The Traction system started in connecting Danville and Champaign in 1901-02, then to Decatur to Springfield in 1904. He also completed the route from Springfield to Granite City going through Gillespie and Benld in 1904. This Interurban as most people called it was a passenger service. It would eventually connect to Peoria by 1907 and St Louis by 1910. It was also possible to go to Chicago by connecting with other railroads. The Illinois Traction Terminal was on the corner of Macoupin and Spruce Streets where United Community Bank is located and at one time did have a small spur to the east.
Everyone associates the growth of Gillespie-Benld and the surrounding area to the coal mines, but the railroad also played a key part in the growth of the area.
You might wonder why main street is so wide compared to other towns’ business districts? Gillespie was unique by having the Interurban rail down the center of Macoupin Street but also the Big Four crisscrossed near Walnut Street. The town has to be one of the few towns in Illinois to have that unique situation.
In the early days, the crisscross intersection was controlled by only railroad signs. The “Stop, Look and Listen” slogan did not stop accidents at the crossing. Eventually, a crossing watchman was hired to control the car and pedestrian traffic at the intersection of the two railroad lines. It was also not unusual for a parked car to back into the Interurban in the business district.
These two railroads went north-south and east-west throughout town until the Interurban ceased to operate. The last Interurban use was on March 3, 1956. The rail line was eventually taken over by other railroads and would only be used for freight transportation, especially by Norfolk Western and other railroad lines. The rail line did have a brief arrangement to transport coal from Monterrey Coal Junction to Edwardsville in 1970, but the last use of the old Interurban Line for freight use occurred on August 20, 1970.
The eventual decline of the railroads in Gillespie coincides with the decline of the coal mines. Railroads were being transformed from coal to diesel and coal use immediately declined.
The Big Four stopped operating on December 17, 1964. Slowly they started to remove the tracks between Litchfield and Bethalto. Illinois maps show Big Four railroad tracks in 1965, but they are gone by 1967.
Now to the original premise of the article, when were the railroad tracks removed down the middle of Macoupin Street? My sources throughout town were varying, I got all kinds of guesses. I narrowed it down by my own memory. It was there in 1972 when I started teaching but then all of a sudden it was gone. I searched newspapers in the fall of 1972, then 1973 and I found it in 1974.
In January of 1974, the city decided to do something about the water lines in the business district. There was a conversation in late February to remove the tracks, but when will they do it? At the same time there was discussion about the sewer lines where the tracks are located. So, the city decided to it all at the same time, remove the tracks, and do water and sewer lines. By early April 1974, the tracks are gone and by early May, the downtown was a mess because of the water main project. After the downtown removal of tracks, the city eventually moved further north and south on Macoupin to remove the remaining tracks.
So, what proved to be a simple search gave you, the readers, a history of the railroads in Gillespie. Stop by the library and see the assorted railroad pictures and if you have anything railroad-related or an interesting picture involving the railroad such as an accident involving the railroads. I would like to see them.
