Senate Committee Approves Grant

The United States Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a grant of $300,000 toward the Alumni Hall renovation project at Knox College in Galesburg.

U.S. Senator Richard Durbin, (D-IL), a member of the committee, announced Friday, June 22, that the Fiscal Year 2008 appropriations bill for the U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Forest Service and Environmental Protection Agency includes $2.4-million for Illinois projects and $15-million for national projects that include Illinois sites.

The appropriation would provide $300,000 from the National Park Service to develop permanent exhibits in Alumni Hall at Knox relating to the Lincoln-Douglas Debates and the Underground Railroad. The bill still requires Congressional and Presidential approval.

"This is great news for Knox as well as Galesburg, since our plans for Alumni Hall include a visitor's center, art gallery and permanent home for the Lincoln Studies Center," said Knox College President Roger L. Taylor. "Many thanks to Senator Durbin for his efforts to promote both development and tourism in Galesburg."

Built in 1890, with the cornerstone laid by President Benjamin Harrison, Alumni Hall is on the National Register of Historic Places -- as is the nearby Old Main, also on the Knox campus, the only building that remains from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates. The Alumni Hall renovation is estimated at $12-million. The roof, brickwork and windows have been renovated, and all non-original interior walls have been removed.

The appropriation bill also includes funding for the Shawnee National Forest; urban forestry in Chicago; wastewater treatment facilities in Monmouth, Riverdale and Chatham; the Midwest Technology Assistance Center at the University of Illinois; and the Illinois Rural Water Association.

Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 45 states and 44 nations. Knox's 'Old Main' is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.