TOLL HOUSE RESTAURANT PLANS ANNOUNCED

CAIRO, Ill. -- The first phase of a four-part development plan to generate tourism and beef up the Cairo area economy is expected to get under way this year.

"It all starts at the former Illinois State Police headquarters, a building located near the entrance of Fort Defiance State Park," said Richard W. Poston, a retired professor at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, who directs a hometown community improvement campaign here called `Operation Enterprise.'

Phase I calls for remodeling the old police station into the Toll House Restaurant.

"The location is ideal," said Poston. "It's located between the Ohio River bridge which crosses into Kentucky, and the Mississippi River bridge, which leads into Missouri."

The building was constructed in 1938, as a toll house for the Ohio River bridge.

"We have a 40-year lease on the building, we have some funds to start the renovation project, and we already have the remodeling plans," said Poston.

When the State Police vacated the building in April of 1990, the structure, which was owned by Central Management Service, donated it to the Illinois Department of Conservation.

The lease obtained by Operation Enterprise includes the building and Fort Defiance State Park, which figures in the four-phase development plan.

Funding to start the project has come in two grants, one of them a $40,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

"We still have some funds about $28,000 from a previous grant," said Poston. He added that the Kellogg Foundation may provide additional money to help finish the job after a foundation representative visits the area later to evaluate progress.

"This will be the only business that I know of whose profits will go into the development of the town," said Poston, who came out of retirement four years ago to help in the revitalization of Cairo. "Every cent of earnings above actual operating costs will go into the development fund for Cairo.

"Income generated from each of the phases of the plan will help to underwrite the next step of the plan," said Poston.

The phases include:

Phase I: Remodeling the old state police building into a restaurant and open a concession stand on the Boatman's Memorial a large concrete riverboat-shaped lookout in Ft. Defiance Park, and establish hiking and jogging trails.

Phase II: Construction of a miniature golf course, a large flower garden, and flag display at Ft. Defiance Park. Also planned is reconstruction of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Civil War fort, at the tip of the park, where the Ohio and Mississippi rivers meet.

Phase III: This phase call for a bait and sporting goods shop at the park, monuments to mark American Indian contributions and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, an arboretum, and 50 camping sites.

Phase IV: An outdoor amphitheater, the reconstruction of Fort Defiance, and a riverboat dinner theater.

"Development planning has been underway four years," said Poston. "But a long-term lease with the DOC was needed before work could get under way."

The people of Cairo first adopted the park as their own in 1987, when they brought mowers, rakes, clippers, and shovels from home to clean up the area.

"They've kept it neat ever since, and have been leasing it on a yearly basis," said Poston. "Gov. Jim Edgar signed the 40-year lease in mid-April, and we're ready to go now."

Poston said the only thing holding back immediate remodeling work at the old state police building was an inspection of the wiring in the building.

"The Department of Conservation has already approved the remodeling concept," said Poston. "The department wants us to have the wiring checked before starting any renovations. We hope to get that done in the immediate future."