ISSCS administration building comes down

Posted on July 19, 2017
The owner of the former Illinois Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s School has until Oct. 15 to complete demolition of the property on Beech St. in Normal. (Photo Greg Halbleib/WJBC)

By Alyssa Paldo/WMBD 31

NORMAL – A place for children orphaned after their parents died in war is no more.

The hospital and administrative buildings at the Illinois Soldiers and Sailors Children’s School in Normal were torn down yesterday.

The home opened its doors in 1865 during the Civil War and children called it home until it closed in 1979. Children who would otherwise have no place to go were given shelter and an education there.

Floyd “Hobie” Landreth lived there from 1953 to 1963. He credits the ISSCS with where he is today.

“We can never repay the home for what the home did for us,” Landreth said. “We can never do that.”

Property owner Nicholas Africano has until Oct. 15 to demolish the building on Beech St. The town is paying Africano $500,000 to tear down the school and develop the nearby infirmary building.

Graduates of the ISSCS will hold a reunion on September 16.

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…