Bill Text: IL HR0460 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Congratulates the City of Fairview Heights on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-10-28 - Resolution Adopted [HR0460 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2019-HR0460-Introduced.html
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| ||||||
2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
3 | Representatives wish to congratulate the City of Fairview | ||||||
4 | Heights on the occasion of its 50th anniversary; and
| ||||||
5 | WHEREAS, Germans and other European immigrants established | ||||||
6 | farms in the Fairview Heights area, then known as Ridge | ||||||
7 | Prairie, by the mid 1800s; early pioneers included Irishman | ||||||
8 | William Kinsella, great-grandfather of Marilyn Kinsella, a | ||||||
9 | storyteller, retired educator, and member of the 50th | ||||||
10 | anniversary committee; his two-story, hand-hewn log cabin, | ||||||
11 | which was built in 1854, still stands in Pleasant Ridge Park; | ||||||
12 | and
| ||||||
13 | WHEREAS, One of the community's early hubs was the | ||||||
14 | intersection of what is now Bunkum Road and Lincoln Trail, | ||||||
15 | where there was a brickyard, a farmhouse that served as an inn, | ||||||
16 | and the original one-room Grant School; the tavern and trading | ||||||
17 | post operated by Henry Becherer, later known as the Ridge | ||||||
18 | Prairie Saloon, was another center of activity; and
| ||||||
19 | WHEREAS, The first of seven coal mines opened in 1903; the | ||||||
20 | name Fairview was first used in an advertisement by a land | ||||||
21 | developer after the streetcar was extended to the area in an | ||||||
22 | effort to appeal to people living in St. Louis; Raymond |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | Fairbrother, a resident from East St. Louis, platted the first | ||||||
2 | residential subdivisions in 1906; posters described the | ||||||
3 | subdivision as a place "where life is worth living"; and
| ||||||
4 | WHEREAS, In 1914, local residents formed the Fairview | ||||||
5 | Improvement Association and raised money for sidewalks and | ||||||
6 | roads; a mercantile store, owned by the Shively family and | ||||||
7 | later the Gaidos, opened in 1916; East St. Louis Light and | ||||||
8 | Power Company began delivering electricity in 1924; the | ||||||
9 | association bought a used fire truck in 1933, leading to the | ||||||
10 | organization of a volunteer fire department; throughout the | ||||||
11 | 1940s and 1950s, subdivisions, stores, and restaurants were | ||||||
12 | developed; and
| ||||||
13 | WHEREAS, One of the most notable landmarks, St. Albert the | ||||||
14 | Great Catholic Parish's round church, was built in 1967; by the | ||||||
15 | mid 1960s, local residents began asking for a post office; a | ||||||
16 | referendum was held to decide whether to call the area Ridge | ||||||
17 | Prairie, Lincoln Heights, or Fairview Heights; the later won by | ||||||
18 | a three-to-one margin; residents voted to incorporate in a | ||||||
19 | special election on September 27, 1969; and
| ||||||
20 | WHEREAS, Warren Baker was appointed as temporary city clerk | ||||||
21 | and helped to plan the first Fairview Heights Election on | ||||||
22 | December 16, 1969; voters elected Everett Moody as Mayor and | ||||||
23 | Les Klein as City Clerk; Charles Baricevic, father of former |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | St. Clair County Board Chairman and Chief Circuit Judge John | ||||||
2 | Baricevic, was an original alderman; the City bought its first | ||||||
3 | fleet of four police cars at the Oliver Dee Joseph dealership | ||||||
4 | in Belleville; Longacre Park, later renamed Moody Park, was | ||||||
5 | dedicated in 1976; a year later, the old Pleasant View | ||||||
6 | tuberculosis sanitorium was purchased and converted into City | ||||||
7 | Hall; and
| ||||||
8 | WHEREAS, Fairview Heights saw the construction of its first | ||||||
9 | large discount store, Venture, in 1969; Macy's opened in 1973, | ||||||
10 | and St. Clair Square, a two-level shopping mall, opened a year | ||||||
11 | later; the metro-east section of Interstate 64, which traced | ||||||
12 | U.S. 50 and improved access for shoppers throughout the region, | ||||||
13 | opened in 1975; commercial growth continued in the 1990s with | ||||||
14 | the construction of the Stonewolf Golf Club, the Four Points by | ||||||
15 | Sheraton Conference Center, and the 280,000-square-foot | ||||||
16 | Fairview Heights Shopping Center; a MetroLink stop opened in | ||||||
17 | 2001; and
| ||||||
18 | WHEREAS, Today, the City of Fairview Heights has evolved | ||||||
19 | into a shopping mecca that attracts people from all over the | ||||||
20 | region; it issues nearly 1,000 licenses to stores, restaurants, | ||||||
21 | hotels, and other businesses annually; it is one of the few | ||||||
22 | municipalities that does not levy property taxes, and most | ||||||
23 | government programs and services are funded by sales tax | ||||||
24 | revenue; the population is just over 17,000; because of the |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | shopping, dining, and other commerce, including the people who | ||||||
2 | work in the City, the population swells to 50,000 by day and | ||||||
3 | can go up to 70,000 during the peak holiday season; the City | ||||||
4 | employs 42 police officers; and
| ||||||
5 | WHEREAS, A committee has planned eight public events to | ||||||
6 | celebrate the City's anniversary, including the early-May | ||||||
7 | opening of The Rec, Heritage Day, a concert at Moody Park, a | ||||||
8 | cake decorating contest, a time capsule burial, a parade and | ||||||
9 | Party in the Park, an open house at City Hall, and an | ||||||
10 | Anniversary Ball; therefore, be it
| ||||||
11 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
12 | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
13 | we congratulate the City of Fairview Heights on the occasion of | ||||||
14 | its 50th anniversary and wish the City many more successful | ||||||
15 | years; and be it further
| ||||||
16 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
17 | presented to Mayor Mark Kupsky as an expression of our esteem | ||||||
18 | and respect.
|