By WJBC Staff

NORMAL – Visitors to Bloomington-Normal will find it a bit easier to explore local connections to Abraham Lincoln as part of a major project to replace panels on the Looking for Lincoln wayside exhibits in the community.

The first of 12 storyboard panels scheduled for replacement was completed on the campus of Illinois State University in late August.

The wayside exhibits were installed between 2008 and 2009 during the observance of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial. Due to flaws in the manufacturing process, many of the exhibit panels had faded or deteriorated over time. This problem happened with wayside exhibits in all the communities within the 42-county Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area. The Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition helped coordinate the process of obtaining replacement panels for the exhibits, which were still under warranty.

Members of the local Heritage Association of McLean County, along with the David Davis Mansion State Historic Site and the McLean County Museum of History have worked with the University, the City of Bloomington and the Town of Normal to facilitate the delivery and the installation of the replacement panels.

The one on University Street on the Illinois State campus was in especially bad condition. With cooperation from Chuck Scott, interim associate vice president for Facilities Management, Planning, and Operations, that panel was the first one to be replaced prior to Festival ISU and the return of students this fall.

A complete list of all the Looking for Lincoln Wayside Exhibits in Bloomington-Normal is available at the Cruisin’ with Lincoln on 66 Visitors Center at the McLean County Museum of History, or the Visitor Center at the David Davis Mansion State Historic Site, both in Bloomington.