Restoration of Bald Knob Cross almost complete

ALTO PASS, Ill. -- Bald Knob Cross Road in Alto Pass winds through the hills of Southern Illinois, cutting through thick forest and vast farmland. The road has sharp turns and steep inclines, and the cracked pavement is filled with potholes and bumps. After rounding the road's final corner and continuing up a hill, drivers finally lay eyes on the newly restored, solid white Bald Knob Cross of Peace.

The cross' path to restoration has been as bumpy as the road leading to it.

The 48-year-old cross had deteriorated over the decades due to aged materials and a lack of community support. After deciding to restore the cross in 2008, supporters have been faced with a federal lawsuit, sexual assault charges against a prominent cross fundraiser and a rough economy.

Despite those factors, the repaneling of the cross was completed in November and now the cross needs a new lighting system and landscaping for the restoration to be complete, said Jeff Lingle, president of Friends of the Cross, a group dedicated to raising funds to refurbish the 111-foot-high landmark.

"We're getting close to the restoration being complete," Lingle said. "The basic refurbishing is complete."

Bald Knob Cross towers above the hills in Alto Pass, Ill., on Friday. (Kristin Eberts)

Months before the last panel was put on the cross, the Rev. Bill Vandergraph, 73, was arrested on suspicion of predatory sexual assault of a child younger than 13 in June 2010. Vandergraph had been the president of Friends of the Cross but resigned when he was arrested, Lingle said.

He faces charges of predatory criminal sexual assault -- a felony carrying a potential sentence of six to 60 years in prison -- and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, each carrying potential sentences of 14 years.

Vandergraph will stand trial Dec. 12 in Jonesboro, Ill.

Vandergraph's arrest did not hurt fundraising efforts, Lingle said.

The arrest "and the fundraising have been two different things," Lingle said. "It didn't have any effect on the restoration process."

Two months after Vandergraph's charges, prominent Illinois atheist Rob Sherman filed a federal lawsuit that requested the Friends of the Bald Knob Cross return a state grant given to the group to help with the restoration.

In his lawsuit, Sherman claimed that public funding shouldn't be used for sectarian purposes. He had asked the organization in May to return a $20,000 grant the group received from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for the panels. When the group refused, he filed the lawsuit.

"It's definitely a violation of the separation of church and state," Sherman said recently.

U.S. District Court Judge Michael McCuskey, central Illinois' chief federal jurist, threw out the lawsuit in February, accepting the recommendation of U.S. Magistrate David Bernthal, who ruled the state's economic development agency has discretion in how it doles out its money.

"It was never about church and state," Bald Knob Cross president D.W. Presley said. "The money was given to the Friends of the Cross, not the cross itself. The primary interest was in the tourism of the exhibit."

Sherman said he has started an appeal in the 7th Circuit appellate court in Chicago. Not much has been done with the appeal, and Sherman said the odds are against him.

"It depends on what judge we get," Sherman said. "The district is full of Republicans, though, and they primarily never rule in favor of keeping church and state separate."

The Friends of the Cross spent the grant money on new panels for the cross. The panels have a five-inch-thick layer of insulation foam that helps control the heating and cooling of the cross. The original 900 porcelain panels did not have the insulation, and the changing temperatures during sunrise caused condensation to build inside the cross. The condensation slowly led to the deterioration, Presley said.

"The best material of the time was used originally," Presley said of the old panels. "But that was 40 years ago. These new panels handle the condensation and are the best way to restore the cross with the original feel."

More than $500,000

Since forming in 2007, Friends of the Cross has raised more than $500,000, Presley said. The bulk of the money has been used on the panels, which cost roughly $550,000 to replace, Lingle said.

While the panels are in place, the cross still needs lighting, Presley said. Presley and Lingle are looking at bids for the lighting and have seen demonstrations on the cross.

"We want to come up with the best lighting system," Presley said. "It needs to be vandal-resistant."

Presley said he was unsure exactly how much the lighting would cost and when it will be installed.

After the lighting is in place, the cross will be in as good a shape as when it was erected in 1963. The focus will then turn to walkways with personalized paver bricks, Presley said.

Funding has been flowing in from thousands of donors, Lingle said. To get the rest of the necessary funding -- Lingle estimates his organization needs roughly $15,000 more to get the lighting -- the Friends of the Cross have filed for private grants and have hosted fish fries and other events. Cross Walk 2011, one of Bald Knob Cross' larger fundraising events, is Oct. 22, and proceeds will go toward the lighting fund.

While the events have been successful in raising money, Lingle said the economy has made collecting donations tougher.

"People's finances have gotten tighter and tighter," he said. "It's getting harder to ask for money."

The bad economy hasn't stopped people from using the cross. Hundreds of people visit it every week, and there have been several weddings and other events there since the new panels were put on, Presley said.

"It's the people that make the restoration special," he said.

psullivan@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

3630 Bald Knob Road, Alto Pass, IL