Marion Street Lighting Improvement Planned
Plans are being prepared for improvement of Marion Street lighting, Commissioner Robert Connell said Monday.
One third of the old incandescent type street lights will be converted to mercury vapor lights. Continue reading
Marion Buys, Leases Land
Land purchase and lease to meet future expansion needs of the Marion sewer department were approved by the City Council Monday night.
The council approved paying $950 to Mrs. Estella Ford for 1.4 acres of land adjacent to the sewer plant south of Boyton Street. Continue reading
Annexations Big 1974 Marion Story
Marion may have overreached in its last effort, but 1974 was still a big year in annexations pushing the city limits outward.
About 125 residents in an area westward from Interstate 57 to and including the Boswell Addition voted 30 to 5 on July 23 to be annexed into the city.
A 4.5 acre subdivision in which 10 homes will be built in Moore Park west of the Marion limits was annexed into the city on September 23. Continue reading
The following Glances at Life article written by Homer Butler in 1974 summarizes the beginnings of the city’s first industrial park development west of North Carbon in 1966, which made further development of the city’s west side beyond the Interstate possible.
From a vantage point on Interstate Route 57 where it traverses Marion, one can look east and west, and view a wide area of development that has taken place during the last eight years. Continue reading
Addition of 440 acres to the City of Marion was voted in a special election held in the affected area north of the city Tuesday. Six residents of the area voted for annexation and two voted against it.
The annexed area includes the land north of the city cemeteries to the county road south of Cedar Grove, which is bounded on the west by an extension of North Russell Street and on the east by the C. & E. I. Railroad. It includes the Marion Drive-In Theatre, an auto salvage yard, Tom’s Restaurant and five or six retail businesses in addition to the Central Illinois Public Service Company’s gas storage plant and the county acreage on which the highway garage is located on the east side of Route 37. Continue reading