The Madison County Journal reports that Collinsville mid-century landmark Bert's Chuck Wagon Bar-B-Q (see "Heavenly Bar-B-Q" will be demolished soon for widening of Illinois Highway 159. Bert's Chuck Wagon will relocate to a nearby location on Main Street and move the fine conestoga sign to the new location. The A-frame building with the vivid religious scenes painted in its gable end windows, however, will be history.
The widening of Illinois 159 costs the state $56 million, and the sites of several tax-paying small businesses -- not to mention at least one landmark mid-century building. Such an expensive project in recession may very well take away more economic activity over the long run than it generates.See also "Mid-Century Modernism in Collinsville" (August 8, 2008).
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2 comments:
At least we still have the chuck wagon in Fairview Heights.
I wish Collinsville would show more respect for its fascinating history. The Chuckwagon is just down the street from the site of Robert Prager's home. Prager was a German-American man who was lynched amid the anti-German hysteria of World War I.
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