Scott County Times
75¢
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2019
WINCHESTER, IL 62694
VOLUME NO. 152 NUMBER 47
Serving our readers for more than 151 years
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your
Times Campbell Publications offices will be closed Thursday, Nov. 28 and Friday, Nov. 29 in observance of Thanksgiving. Deadline for news and ads for next week’s edition is 5 p.m., Friday, Nov. 22. Marketplace classifieds and public notice deadline is Friday at noon.
NEWS
WHS holds first Local Career Fair. See page A2 CrimeStoppers Fugitives of the Week. See page A3 Scott County Salvation Army kicks off holiday bell ringing campaign. See page A7
WGS
SHOWS
VANDALIA
Submitted photo
LOVE
After two freshman Vandalia students and one of the student's grandparents were killed in a car accident Saturday evening, schools around the area showed their love and support for the community. Winchester Elementary wore Vandalia’s school colors and went to the gym to make a heart. The couple killed in the accident were the parents of Vandalia’s principal and one of the freshmen killed was a daughter.
SPORTS
Seventh graders take second. See page A6
WEEKEND WEATHER FRIDAY, NOV. 22
41 31 High
Low
SATURDAY, NOV. 23
41 29 High
Low
SUNDAY, NOV. 24
49 33 High
Low
Scott County Times
&KXUFK $ /RFDOV $ 0DUNHWSODFH $ 1HZV $ $ 5HDO (VWDWH $ 6SRUWV $ Š 2019
Scott County Times Obituaries listed in this issue: Evans, Howell All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Scott County Historical Society presents Blue’s Christmas By CARMEN ENSINGER Scott County Times The Scott County Historical Society will be holding its second fundraiser in as many months to benefit the Winchester Depot. Lake of the Ozarks musician Dale Blue will be at the Riverbank Bar and Grill in Florence on Dec. 14 from 7 to 11 p.m. and all of the money raised will go towards the maintenance, repair and upkeep of the historic Winchester Depot. There will also be a live auction. “This probably wasn’t the best timing since we just had the Home Tour event earlier this month, but when an opportunity presents itself, you grab it,� Historical Society member Sonnie Hoover said. “We picked Riverbank because it is pretty good size and will hold quite a few people. They also have an outer area as well.� The depot dates back to the 1869 when the Rockford Rock Island and St. Louis Railroad line came through Winchester. There has been only one alteration to the original design during the years – the bay window near the southwest corner was added and some of the loading docks were eliminated. The Burlington Route eventually abandoned the railroad and, over the years, the depot had fallen into a sad state of disrepair. That is until the Scott County Historical Society stepped in in 1984. They acquired the depot at a cost of $500 with the intent to restore it to its once former glory to be used
as a community center and county museum. Project Life provided a $55,000 grant to help with the restoration but there was a stipulation – the depot had to be used as a senior meals site for 10 years. They also provided the kitchen equipment, tables and chairs. This meals program continued at the depot until April of this year when it was moved to the Nimrod Funk building. To assure historical accuracy in the restorations, a lot of research was done. The only major interior modification was the conversion of the old baggage room into a kitchen, restroom, storage and handicap entry. The Historical Society’s efforts did not go unnoticed. The depot project received the Governor’s 1987 Home Town Award for Senior Citizen Involvement Category and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Now that the senior meals are no longer being served there, the Society must find another way to pay for the insurance and utilities for the building. In addition to the fundraisers such as this, they also rent the facility out for community events. “We do rent it out for various occasions, such as birthday parties and small receptions and are trying to come up with some ideas on what else it can be used for,� Hoover said. “We do not charge a huge fee for the rental of it because we want people to use it. We are trying to get the word out that the depot is there and available for use by the community.�
Pool renovation bids come in way over estimate By CARMEN ENSINGER Scott County Times Bids were opened for the Winchester Pool Renovation on Nov. 14 at City Hall and the results were not favorable. Out of five bids received, all of them were substantially over the anticipated $670,000 cost of the project. The lowest bid, from Contegra, came in at $865,800, more than $195,000 over the anticipated cost. The other four bids were over $1 million dollars with the highest being $1,239,900. The city received a 50/50 grant from the USDA’s Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development program. The city’s portion would have been $335,000. “The city would have to fund the additional $195,000 making our total cost come out to $525,000 for our portion,� Winchester Mayor Rex McIntire said. “That amount is definitely not feasible for us at this time.� The city’s engineers, Benton and Associates, drew up plans would include replacing both the bath house and filter house, install a new liner in the pool along with various other items such as new electric, drains, valves, etcetera. The pool was built in 1964 and the bathhouse is original to the pool. It is outdated in several areas and basically in need of either updating or replaced. The cost to replace the existing bathhouse and new electric services would be around $220,000. The filter building is in just as bad
shape as the bathhouse. The floor is cracking and has separated from the walls and the city had to install temporary jacks to hold up the floor. Cost to replace this building and put in a new surge pit would be around $110,000. Other expenses include new filter equipment, media and valves, demolition of current bathhouse and filter building. The city was planning on saving on demolition costs by having city crews take down the existing bath house in preparation for the new one. Thankfully, that demolition has not yet begun. “From the beginning I said to hold off on taking down the old bathhouse because I was afraid of something like this,� McIntire said. A meeting for the city council has been scheduled for Dec. 2 at 1 p.m. at city hall, before the regular city council meeting on Dec. 4. “By then, hopefully, Greg Hillis (engineer) will be in contact with the contractor to see if there is any where we can substantially cut the cost to see if there is any way we can go forward with it like it is,� McIntire said. “I doubt there will be any way we can do it but we will see what they say.� The (OSLAD) Program is a statefinanced grant program that provides funding assistance to local government agencies for acquisition and/or development of land for public parks and open space. The program is managed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Funding assistance can be up to 50 percent of the project cost.
Submitted photo
CHEERING ON THE TEAM
The Winchester Grade School cheerleading team cheer on the team Saturday during the final day of the junior high boys basketball tournament. Results and recaps from the game are on the sports page.