Weldon Springs, Moraine View not among rescued state parks
Daily Pantagraph, Bloomington-Normal Saturday, November 22, 2008 8:50 AM CST SPRINGFIELD -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich has trimmed four state parks from the closure list,
but two in Central
Illinois weren’t among them. as part of a budget cutting move had been spared. The parks that will remain open are:
Gebhard Woods; Kickapoo; Channahon
Parkway; and Hennepin Canal Parkway.
to shutter
seven anyway. They include Weldon Springs near Clinton and Moraine View near
LeRoy. of the targeted parks open in each region and chose to keep as many open as possible with the
state’s available money.
wrinkle
in the governor’s
budget strategy. the union continues to believe there is enough money in the budget to keep all of the parks and
historic sites open. “We’ll be
disappointed with anything short of that,” Lindall said.
problems. Illinois isn’t
alone; Florida might close 19 of its state parks next year. lawmakers sent him that was intended to keep 11 state parks and 14 state historic sites open
past their
planned closing date. to pay for the plan. He said about $55 million of the $230 million they made available is not allowed
to be used
because of federal rules. would now close Nov. 30. He said lawmakers didn’t approve more money just so the governor could pick and choose which parks to keep open. “It just most likely sets up another attempt that we’ll
have to right the wrong,” Brady said.
despite
being scheduled for
closure because a private foundation has offered to pick up the bill.
keep other sites open, too,
but nothing has been finalized. facilities. But they’re working on it, he said. “We want to be ready if and when that occurs,”
Blanchette
said. allow local governments or interest groups to lease the sites in order to operate and maintain them
while the state
gets its finances in order.
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