New owner of Kable News building in Mt. Morris is busy working on restoration, modification

John Russell wants to make the 132-year-old building a landmark for the community

By ALEXA ZOELLNER azoellner@shawmedia.com

John Russell has been getting a lot of questions lately, many of them about the plans for his recent purchase in downtown Mt. Morris – the former Kable News Company building.

Russell, whose purchase of the 132-year-old building was finalized on March 1, said his goal in a nutshell is to have a landmark building that people can use.

“Everybody knows this building,” he said. “It is, by far, the most Mt. Morris building of Mt. Morris, which is kind of cool.”

During an interview with Shaw Media, Russell touched on at least 10 potential uses of the space, including a visitors bureau, chamber of commerce, offices for small businesses –the first tenant was set to move in May 1 – a medical clinic, a farmers market and multipurpose flex space.

Looking at the size and layout of the building, there are “just endless possibilities,” said Russell, who lives about 10 minutes northeast of Mt. Morris.

“My goal would be to make sure we don’t do anything to complicate that [historic] half of the building, but I still want to modernize it so that it has access for people that aren’t able to otherwise access it,” he said, pointing to the need for things such as a stair lift and ADA-compliant bathrooms. “Things that would be easy to do but still have the ability to not tarnish

what’s currently there.”

Located at 16 S. Wesley Ave., the building was constructed in 1890-91 to serve as Mount Morris College’s College Hall. When the school closed in 1932, twin brothers Harvey and Harry Kable purchased College Hall and founded the Kable News Company through which they distributed many of the publications printed at their other business, Kable Brothers Printing.

Kable News Company since has expanded into several similarly named parent and subsidiary corporations, which currently are owned by Michael