LUMP OF COAL
It appears that Santa Claus has skimped on Springfield’s Salvation Army. The capital city’s oldest and largest emergency-shelter provider received a rejection letter last week in response to its application for a $20 million grant to build a new community center. The local Salvation Army, 510 N. Sixth St., was among several dozen from the region that sought a slice of the $1.5 billion fund established earlier this year after the death of McDonald’s Corp. heiress Joan Kroc. The grant winners have not yet been announced.
“We’re disappointed,” says Capt. Deon Oliver, head of the local non-profit agency. “We need to relocate because we are cramped for space.”
Oliver says he still hopes to move the facility into a building twice its current size [Todd Spivak, “The price of salvation,” May 13]. He plans to launch a fundraising campaign next year.
ANOTHER SHA RESIGNATION
Robert Schaaf tendered his resignation last week as chairman of the Springfield Housing Authority Board of Commissioners after serving for eight years. The announcement came one month after SHA executive director Willis Logan made public his own plans to retire from the agency next spring [Todd Spivak, “Logan’s run,” Nov. 24].
Though two years remain on his contract, Schaaf says he will formally step down next month, giving Mayor Tim Davlin the opportunity to select a majority of SHA’s five-member board.
“The mayor should have the control since he is ultimately responsible,” says Schaaf, 69, who was appointed to the board by former Mayor Karen Hasara, a Republican.
Davlin is charged with picking replacements for both Schaaf and Logan.
FIRST HIKE
The Sierra Club will host its annual New Year’s Day Stone Soup and Hike by the Friends of Sangamon Valley at the Carpenters Park Nature Preserve Pavilion on Peoria Road north of Springfield.
From 10 a.m.-noon on Jan. 1, the public may enjoy a warm fireplace and refreshments.
For more information, call 217-698-0840 or go to illinois.sierraclub.org/sangamon.
This article appears in Dec 23-29, 2004.
