Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS August 18, 2016 Volume 49, Number 24- $1.00
Sports Previews The Hawks football team, boys golf team, and girls golf team are 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
Building renovations may cost more than expected By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.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. The two departments currently rent spaces in Rochelle for almost $50,000 per year. Rewerts said Tuesday that the heating and airconditioning system is non-
Turn to A10
Design of new playground to be chosen by September 1
OES kicks off school year with celebration The Oregon Elementary School kicked off the start of the school year Tuesday with its 3rd Annual First Day of School Celebration. The day began with a welcome breakfast for students’ families and community members from 8:15 to 8:55 a.m. at the Blackhawk Center, located across the street from the elementary school. The breakfast was held while OES students acclimated to their new teachers and classrooms. At 9 a.m., OES students and staff walked over to the Blackhawk Center for a 45-minute celebration marking the start of the 2016 school year. The celebration included introductions of OES staff and support staff and a short video. Parents and community members were then asked to line the sidewalk back to the OES building as students walked across a red carpet through the school’s entrance to give the students “VIP treatment” before their first full day of school.
compliant with state energy codes because it doesn’t bring outside air into the building. The system is also not zoned, needs redesigned ductwork, and is only about 65 percent efficient, he said. Rewerts’ written report
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com
Third grader Xavier Koczka, Mt. Morris, waves to his mom Rosana Espinoza as she records him walking through the welcome line to Oregon Elementary School on the Tuesday, the first day of school. OES students, staff, and parents kicked off the school year with a breakfast and program in the morning. Photo by Earleen Hinton
Oregon school officials hope to have a new playground design chosen in two weeks. The school board discussed a tentative timeline Monday evening that includes having the replacement for Project PLAY selected by Sept. 1. The timeline estimates that the new equipment would then arrive by Oct. 14. Superintendent Tom Mahoney said the Oregon Park District may be installing the new playground at no cost, if scheduling details can be worked out. Project PLAY, a large playground complex built by hundreds of volunteers in 1989, was demolished Aug. 8. The board decided to remove the all-wood playground for safety reasons. Mahoney said an increasing number of youngsters were getting injured, mostly with splinters. He said last week that several playground equipment manufacturers had already been contacted for designs and cost estimates for the replacement. Mahoney said elementary students will be asked what they want in their new playground. The demolition and the new playground will be paid for from the district’s Tort Fund.
Ogle County Courthouse marks 125th anniversary County board honors August 1891 dedication 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
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area at the time, were blamed for the 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.
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B4
The Ogle County Courthouse is under construction in this photo taken in 1891. The building was dedicated 125 years ago on Aug. 20. File photo
One more Friday concert set Music lovers will get an extension of the Mt. Morris Jamboree’s Friday Night Concerts. This year’s concerts officially ended Aug. 5, but organizer Larry Ubben told the village board last week that just one more has been
Library News, A3 Marriage Licenses, A4 Mt. Morris Police, A3 Pine Creek News, A3 Public Voice, A7
scheduled. The Boot Leg Flyers will perform on Friday, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. at the Reckmeyer Band Shell in downtown Mt. Morris. “They’re back by popular demand,” Ubben said Aug. 9. “They [the public] want
Property Transfers, B4 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, A10, B2 State’s Attorney, B3
more concerts. We’re here to give them to them.” Ubben also said the Jimmys performance on July 8 drew a record 800 people and took in $800 in donations. The concerts are free, but donations are welcomed.
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