Bluegrass festival will replace Grande Leve this year
The Vandalia Statehouse will reopen in the near future, but it does not look like the state’s oldest existing capitol will host its annual period celebration on Father’s Day weekend.
But a local organization is ready to step in and offer a substitute festival that weekend.
The Vandalia Tourism Commission is working on a three-day bluegrass festival, according to Dean Black, commission member and city alderman.
“I think we’ll have something that people are really going to enjoy,” Black told the city council last week.
Mayor Rick Gottman said there is little hope for a Grande Levée this year, due to budget cuts. The state has annually put about $20,000 into that celebration.
Also, at this point, it would be difficult for Site Superintendent Mary Cole to acquire many of the period crafts people and entertainers who annually participate in the celebration.
The doors of the Statehouse will be opened for Vandalia’s celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday this Thursday evening, but the date for its reopening have not yet been set.
The state’s hiring agency, Central Management Services, has yet to approve a full-time employee who will join Cole.
The Statehouse is being reopened through funds given by an anonymous donor, though that individual’s gift may not be needed.
Pat Quinn, who has taken over as governor after the impeachment of Rod Blagojevich, has pledged support for reopening all state historic sites and state parks that were closed due to budget cuts implemented by Blagojevich.
Also at last week’s council meeting, Vandalia Main Street Program Manager Dana Whiteman announced that the organization would hold the first of its monthly meetings for downtown merchants.
The “Mornings on Main Street” will be held at 8 a.m. and will last approximately 45-50 minutes, she said. The first meeting was held this Wednesday.
“We want to get (the downtown merchants) in a routine for meetings on the progress of the downtown projects,” Whiteman said.
Merchants will take turns hosting the meetings, and coffee and doughnuts will be served. The meetings will include reports from city officials.
Also at the council meeting:
• Gottman reported that Hurst & Roche Engineers of Hillsboro will fine-tune the plans for a new maintenance building for the city cemetery crew.
The city let bids for such a building last year, but the bids received were substantially higher than the engineers’ estimate and the money set aside for the project.
Gottman said the city plans to reduce the cost of the building by cutting down on its size and having city workers demolish the existing structure.
• The council approved an ordinance amendment increasing the maximum size for free-standing signs. The maximum height increases from 20 feet to 30 feet, and the overall size increases from 30 square feet to 100 square feet.
City Administrator Jimmy Morani said the action puts Vandalia more in line with other communities in the area.
• The council approved the removal of eating and drinking establishments from the list of businesses allowed within a medical district in the city. The action follows Clint Flowers’ plan to relocate his insurance business to the former home of Bandy’s Pharmacy at Eighth and Taylor streets.
Residents of that area have expressed concerns about what type of business would move to that location if Flowers moves out.
• Supporting the recommendation of the Vandalia Planning Commission, the council voted unanimously to reject Michael and Lisa Elder’s request to have property at 1614 W. Randolph rezoned from two-family residential to general commercial.
• In a 6-1 vote, the council approved a request from the Fayette County Health Department to waive the department’s 2008 tax debt for the former Leo Brown Lumber home that will serve as the new home of the health department.
The health department agreed to take on that debt when purchasing the building. Fayette County previously waived the FCHD’s county tax debt for that property.
Alderman Larry Cable cast the lone dissenting vote. “It just doesn’t seem right,” Cable said.
• The council approved an agreement extending an option for just under 20 acres of land located just east of the city’s 120 acres south of Vandalia’s western Interstate 70 interchange.
The agreement calls for the city to pay $8,750 for that option to Bruce Rand Edwards, Janis Edwards, Robert Mars, Pamela Mars, William Opal and Deborah Opal.
