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home of the Katherine Dunham Museum and the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Boys & Girls Club Southwest Illinois News East St. Louis News offers current news, upcoming events, attractions and a Metro-East guide. Home Team Helps Two St. Louis-area Families Achieve Dream of Home Ownership Local Cisco Networking Academy Habitat for Humanity JJK B&G Grand Opening Mayor Christens Crown Hotel Happy Birthday, Katherine Dunham New Library For East St. Louis MetroLink Brings Viability to East St. Louis |
by Bob Moore, SWI-News.com EAST ST. LOUIS, Jan 23, 2001 - A new state-of-the-art East St. Louis Public Library opened Tuesday with a special ceremony attended by community and government leaders. The 18,000-square-foot facility is located at 5320 State Street, East St. Louis. The project was initiated nearly four years ago when former East St. Louis Mayor Gordon D. Bush and the Library Board of Trustees asked Kennedy Associates, a St. Louis-based architectural and engineering firm, to design a new library and help arrange financing for it.
Kaven Swan, a principal and executive vice president of Kennedy Associates Incorporated (KAI) and Michael Kennedy, Kennedy Associates' founder and president, took the project to NationsBank, now Bank of America. An innovative financial plan was developed with the sale of $4.3 million in bonds. A $360,000 grant was secured by Illinois Senator James Clayborne Jr. through Illinois Secretary State Jesse White and $250,000 in Community Development Block Grants, funded by the City of East St. Louis. A $300,000 contribution to the library came from the Bank of America Foundation. Local participants in the letter of credit were Union Bank of Illinois, Union Planters, First Illinois Bank and Gateway National Bank.
White, who attended the groundbreaking two years ago, emphasized that libraries are the cornerstone of the community. "This library is an important addition to East St. Louis that will benefit generations to come," he said. White presented the library with a copy of a book he wrote, I'm a Jesse White Tumbler. "I hope that every youngster will have an opportunity to read this book which is about a member of my team," said White, referring to the Jesse White Tumbling Team he founded in 1959. The new library provides a wide variety of expanded learning opportunities for the entire East St. Louis community, especially children. To create a welcoming yet functional facility, KAI used light and color as hallmarks of the design. Natural light brightens the library's public spaces. The children's area, designed for story telling, crafts and reading, features a distinguishing serpentine glass block wall dotted with playful colors and built-in, heated risers for seating. Clerestory windows encircle the main library areas and vivid carpet patterns add visual interest. The central circulation desk is prominently placed at the library's entrance, within a two-story atrium. Multi-purpose meeting rooms and computer stations provide additional resources for the community. The new library provides East St. Louisans with regional and global information resources through the Internet and online services of the Lewis & Clark Library System. It also houses a comprehensive collection of African-American culture and history (fiction and non-fiction) and an extensive reference department, fully equipped with the latest reference materials. The library also maintains a catalog of Metro East Journals from 1889 to 1936. Editions of the newspaper dating from 1889 to April 1978 also are available on microfilm. Madie H. Dowell is the library's interim director. Members of the East St. Louis Library Board of Trustees are the Rev. Harold Lawary, president; Joyce Williams, vice president; Roslyn Cason, secretary and treasurer; and Bestine Tourijigian, building and grounds.  Illinois Tomorrow Corridor Program EAST ST. LOUIS, Jan 18, 2001 - East St. Louis will receive $65,000 for East St. Louis Tomorrow. This grant will fund a comprehensive redevelopment plan that will identify land development and infrastructure opportunities and produce promotional materials in an effort to stimulate economic development. The plan will also focus on enhancing the proposed "Freedom Trails, Legacy of Hope," a project commemorating African American History. The funds are from the Illinois Tomorrow Corridor Program, created by Governor George Ryan to promote planning at the local level that integrates land development, transportation and infrastructure needs. Ryan announced a total of $3.7 million in grants for 41 communities to help them develop plans for future growth that will protect and improve the quality of life. For complete story, see Illinois Tomorrow Corridor Program Return to Southwest Illinois News  
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