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The Daily Illini
Tuesday April 2, 2013
www.DailyIllini.com
The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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Vol. 142 Issue 128
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Green Street changes expected by next summer
Devour your favorite book
Bankier Apartments plans to begin construction June 1 BY YELE AJAYI STAFF WRITER
KELLY HICKEY THE DAILY ILLINI
Paula Carns, a University librarian, looks at a cake during the Edible Book Festival held at the University YMCA on Monday. The contest received submissions from faculty, students and organizations who wanted to creatively depict their favorite book through food. Prizes for the contest included children’s books, mugs from Espresso Royale and even a rubber chicken donated by Dallas & Co.
Willard to offer new flights to East Coast Airport plans to expand travel to Washington D.C. with recent grant BY JACQUI OGRODNIK STAFF WRITER
Willard Airport is working to offer new services to the East Coast over the next few months. The airport received a $500,000 grant in August 2012 from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Small Community A ir Service Development Program. Willard, which currently provides five fl ights to and from Chicago O’Hare and one fl ight to and from Dallas-Fort Worth daily, will use the grant to market a new airline service to the east. “Right now, the Willard administration is looking at trying to arrange a direct fl ight from Willard to Washington, D.C.,” said Bruce Walden ,
director of real estate planning and services for the University, which owns the airport. “If that doesn’t work, we’ll look at other east coast destinations.” Walden said the Willard administration is focused on D.C. not only because of the large number of University employees who travel to the area, but also because of the large amount of federal research dollars the University uses. “That is a route that we in the community could support and sustain,” Walden said. Mike Kirchhoff, president and CEO of Champaign County Economic Development Corporation, said he also thinks the additional service will
benefit students, staff and the airport. “Any increase in service at Willard Airport is a positive benefit to the airport’s position and a key asset in our economic development strategy,” Kirchhoff said. In addition to benefitting students, Kirchhoff said a direct flight would better serve companies in the University Research Park. Willard has recently arranged for meetings with perspective carriers, which will occur over the next few months. Walden said the airport, currently served by American Eagle Airlines, will work to expand its current destinations and help secure financial stability for the airport in order to provide destinations and fares that are convenient to the area. “More destinations from Willard would improve service to
the area,” Walden said. “It would help sustain the airport and would provide benefit in terms of ease of travel and convenience for those who wish to travel to any destination that we are lucky enough to secure.” Students such Joseph Nocco, junior in Media and originally from Connecticut, said having an airport directly connected to the east from ChampaignUrbana would make traveling much easier. “Currently, I have to fly from Willard to O’Hare and then home,” he said. “The flight from Willard to Chicago is only 25 minutes and is the most expensive part of my trip. If there was a flight directly to the east coast, it would make my life a lot easier when traveling back home.”
The corner of Sixth and Green streets will have a new look by next summer. After four years of planning, Bankier Apartments will start construction in June on its tallest apartment building, which is expected to be completed Aug. 15, 2014. The 14-story building will be constructed on the site that is now occupied by Gameday Spirit, which has been located on the corner since 1998. Along with the Gameday Spirit, the buildings that house Hair Benders, Beri Frozen Yogurt and Roll Model will be demolished. Miriam Booth, managing broker for Bankier Apartments, said demolition will begin June 1, and the project is expected to take 14 months. Cory Shumard, store manager at Gameday, said he made arrangements to move the store to a temporary location at 616 E. Green St. He said he is confident the store will have the same corner spot when the redevelopment is over, but arrangements are tentative. After construction is completed, Booth said one or more of the businesses on the site now will likely have a spot in the building’s commercial space. “With the construction of this building, we’re going to be changing the face of Green Street,” Booth said. “With
additional new buildings plus our new building, you won’t even be able to recognize Green Street in three to four years.” The new building will have 40 luxury two-bedroom apartments. Standard rooms will start at $1,700 a month and upper units will go for $1,800. The first floor of the building will consist of commercial space followed by three or four floors of parking space. Above the parking space will be a resident lounge and eight floors of apartments. The rooms will include a washer, dryer, Jacuzzi tubs, granite counter tops, hardwood floor and carpeted rooms, Booth said. According to Bankier’s website, the company currently serves over 1,200 tenants in 29 locations. A majority of the apartments are located within six blocks of the University’s Quad. Campus spokeswoman Robin Kaler said she sees Green Street only continuing to expand and become more appealing over the years. “University of Illinois is a vibrant, world class campus,” Kaler said in an email. “As we continue to invest in making sure our facilities serve our students and faculty as well, we are glad to see that investments continue to be made in the campustown community.”
Yele can be reached at ocajayi2@ dailyillini.com.
“As we continue to invest in making sure our facilities serve our students and faculty as well, we are glad to see that investments continue to be made in the campustown community.” ROBIN KALER, campus spokeswoman
Hannah Prokop contributed to this report. Jacqui can be reached at ogrodni2@dailyillini.com.
UI considers contributing to Smithsonian exhibit Museum asks for submissions of artifacts, stories for new online agricultural portal BY MEGAN VASILIADIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History launched a web portal in March for the public to submit artifacts and personal accounts about changes in United States agricultural history. L eA nn Ormsby, AC E S Director of Information Technology and Communication Services, said the University
is interested in making submissions to the portal in the future, but has not yet done so. “Because of the outstanding research discoveries that the College of ACES has had since the start of the college, I think it would be really important to have input to what the museum has to offer,” Ormsby said. The college’s discoveries and accomplishments include constructing Farm Business
Farm Management, one of the oldest and largest staterun farm records and analysis programs. Developing the first transgenic pig and establishing the Morrow Plots, the analysis program is the fi rst experimental plots on a U.S. college campus, Ormsby said. She said she hopes to reach out to the ACES’ agriculture stakeholders to see if they would be interested in participating in the museum’s initiative. “I’m sure many of our ACES faculty, both former and current, ACES alumni and other college stakeholders would
The agricultural portal offers options to: Q Q Q Q
Share personal stories Share photos of artifacts Browse stories Receive archive updates
have very interesting stories to share,” she said. Sarah Maurer, freshman in ACES, said many students in ACES have an agricultural background, and they can use
See SMITHSONIAN, Page 3A
Champaign City Council to vote on bid for street maintenance contract BY EARN SAENMUK STAFF WRITER
The Champaign City Council will vote on a resolution to accept a street maintenance contract bid from G.M. Sipes Construction Company at its meeting Tuesday. The project’s cost was estimated to be more than $1.9 million, but the lowest bid for the
project was more than $1.6 million. Street maintenance in 2012 with Duce Construction Company had cost the city more than $1.3 million. The construction take place on older streets, according to the computer-based Pavement Management System. The system provides street surveys and a pavement condition index
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(PCI) for each street. A PCI of 0 represents pavement in bad condition, while a PCI of 100 represents good condition. The expected PCI for pavement in good condition is between 55 to 70. “The new concrete pavement and patches should provide good service for 20 years,” states the City of Champaign’s report to City Council. “I wholeheartedly
support the project,” said Council Member Will Kyles, District 1. “A lot of these will be in District 1 too, especially on fourth street — that one needs replacement.” The project will begin in May and is scheduled to be completed by Nov. 1.
Earn can be reached at saenmuk2@ dailyillini.com.
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Gameday Spirit, on the corner of Sixth and Green will be replaced by a 14-story apartment building, by Fall 2014.
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