For 2016 08 18

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Serving the Forreston area since 1865

FORRESTON Journal August 18, 2016 Volume 154, Number 17 - $1.00

Sports Previews The golf and volleyball teams have practiced and are now ready for the season. B2

Muddy Fun

Farm Heritage

The annual mud bogs were held Sunday afternoon. B1

East Jordan Church will host an annual farm heritage event on Aug. 27. B6

New hours for village

Playground cleaned and repaired by Boy Scouts

By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecountynews.com

By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecountynews.com Kids will be able to enjoy the train at Memorial Park for years thanks to the work put in by Boy Scout Trevor Drayton to repair the equipment. “The project is going nicely,” said Drayton Monday night as he updated the Forreston Village Board about the repairs. “The kids are doing well and everyone respected the wet paint at the park.” Drayton, a 15-year-old sophomore at Forreston High School, organized the park repairs as his Eagle Scout project. A community service project is a requirement to earn Eagle Scout and Drayton was responsible for managing the entire project. He had his parents, scoutmaster Ray Gruber, and scouts Tanner Clayton and Leo Lund-Bruning assisting with the project. The wooden train was cleaned and sanded before being resealed. Any damaged boards were replaced. Drayton also had the paint stripped off the swing sets and a new coat of paint applied. “The swings were buggy but we got that straightened out,” Drayton said. Troop 52 scout Trevor Drayton sits on the wooden train during a workday for his Eagle Village President Mark Metzger thanked Scout Project. He was organizing the repairs of the playground equipment at Memorial Turn to A3 Park in Forreston. Photo supplied

Courthouse marks 125th anniversary By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com An Ogle County landmark will celebrate its 125th anniversary later this week. The Ogle County Board approved a resolution Tuesday evening commemorating the dedication of the Ogle County Courthouse on Aug. 20, 1891. The stately three-story brick building with its tall cupola is situated in the heart of downtown

Oregon and is the county’s third courthouse. Chicago architect George O. Garnsey designed the structure in Romanesque Revival style. Built at a cost of $107,000 in 1890-91, it is made of red brick and detailed with Naperville and Ashton limestone. Rough cut limestone arches decorate its two entrances on the east and the west, along with Corinthian pilasters. The building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places in 1981. The first courthouse was completed in 1841 but was never used. The new courthouse was destroyed by arson on March 21, 1841, the night before court was to have convened there for the first time. The Prairie Banditti, band of outlaws who operated in Ogle County and the surrounding area at the time, were blamed for the

The Ogle County Courthouse is under construction in this photo taken in 1891. The building was dedicated 125 years ago on Aug. 20.

In This Week’s Edition...

Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B4

Forreston Police, A3 Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B4 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4

fire. That courthouse was replaced in 1948 by a one-story brick structure, which soon proved inadequate for the growing county’s needs. It was demolished to make way for the current structure. The present courthouse has undergone numerous renovations over the years, the most recent in 2010. The courts and related departments moved out of the building in 2005 when the brand new $15 million Ogle County Judicial Center was completed across the street. The courthouse was then renovated for the county’s administrative offices at a cost of $7.5 million. Much of the three-story building was gutted during the demolition process with some of the building’s original elements maintained and restored. Most notable are the windows, some of which were covered over during remodeling in the 1980s. All the windows have been uncovered and replaced. Also preserved are the four walk-in vaults, which provide some of the building’s center support. Original doors were used back wherever possible and the original woodwork was refinished in some areas and replicated where needed. Highlights of the project are the county board room and Memorial Hall conference room on the third floor. The remodeled courthouse was dedicated on Aug. 20, 2010.

Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, A10, B2 State’s Attorney, B3

The Forreston Village Hall will be closed on Fridays starting in September. The board discussed the new hours during Monday night’s meeting. Hours will now be Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. “Friday would be closed office wise but Alan (Cruthis) and Mike (Boomgarden) will be available,” said Village President Mark Metzger.” The new hours will be posted on the doors to the building. Trustee Gary Buss asked if the new hours could be included on the next water bill to inform the residents. That bill will be sent out in the next week. The board agreed to start the new hours the week of Aug. 29.

County cost for building are higher By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com A building recently purchased by the Ogle County Board is turning out to be more expensive than anticipated. Architect Greg Rewerts of Rewerts Design Group, Rockford, told the board Tuesday evening that his preliminary examination of former Rochelle Clinic shows that renovating it for county offices will cost an estimated $877,000. Previously, county board chairman Kim Gouker had estimated the renovations at just over half that. Rewerts said the “biggest hurdle” and expense will be updating the mechanicals system and bringing into compliance with the Illinois Energy Code. His estimate put that cost at $175,000. The county purchased the clinic building, previously a bank, and its two large parking lots in downtown Rochelle last fall for $180,000 from Rochelle Community Hospital. The county had already been renting the basement for its Emergency Operations Center when hospital officials put the building on the market late last summer. The plan is to locate the Rochelle offices of the Ogle County Health Department and Ogle County Probation Department in the building. Turn to A3

Community picnic will be held Aug. 27 The Forreston Area Community Picnic hosted by Faith Lutheran Church has been rescheduled to Saturday, Aug. 27. It was originally set for this Saturday, Aug. 20. The annual event will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in front of the church on Second Avenue between Birch and Elm Streets. The public is invited to come for food, karaoke, games, and crafts. The event is free. Donations will be accepted for the food pantry at the New Life Community Center in downtown Forreston. For more information call 815-9383203.

Deaths, B4 Elva J. Buser, James D. Garber, Les Jones, Richard A. Personette, Jill D. Rogers

Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com


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