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  • Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza Swap meet: A group of visitors from Sullivan, Ill., made a secret visit to assess the town of Marshall, Ill., in May.

    MET 070512 SWAP 1MARSHALL.jpg

  • Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza Parks aplenty: A team of visitors from Sullivan, Ill., thought the small park across the street from the Clark County Courthouse could be expanded.

    MET 070512 SWAP 2MARSHALL.jpg

  • Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza Heritage in stone: A group of visitors from Sullivan, Ill., were impressed with how the citizens of Marshall remembered their heritage with various plaques and markers.

    MET 070512 SWAP 3MARSHALL.jpg

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July 8, 2012

Visitors offer Marshall officials insight into town

Howard Greninger The Tribune-Star

MARSHALL, ILL. — Through the eyes of “secret” visitors, community leaders in Marshall, Ill., now have an overview of ways they can improve their community, as well as reminders of its strengths and assets following a University of Illinois Extension program called “community swap.”

In addition, a team from Marshall secretly visited Sullivan, Ill., as part of the swap.

Tiffany Macke of the University of Illinois Extension office in Marshall headed a Marshall group that visited Sullivan for six hours in early May. A Sullivan group visited Marshall more than a week later. Both Illinois communities received reports of the visits late last month.

Marshall has previously participated in three such community swaps, Macke said, and had requested this year’s swap. Macke set up the swap with Sullivan, as that Illinois community has a population of about 4,200, close to the more than 3,900 population of Marshall, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

In addition to the extension service, participants included Marshall-in-Motion, a volunteer citizens group, and the Sullivan Chamber and Economic Development.

The biggest difference, community leaders in Marshall say, is the lack of a large central park in Marshall.

“The overall jewel we thought [of Sullivan] was their park and recreation. They have got a beautiful central park [named Wyman Park] and a really nice community civic center with an indoor pool [named the Sullivan Civic Center]. The large park is next to the school system … so Marshall was definitely taking notes from that,” Macke said.

Marshall has four smaller parks and its schools are spread out, unlike Sullivan where all schools are in one location.

Macke said one recommendation is to use a vacant lot along Archer Street that is fronted with a facade of a former downtown building. A small park north and across a street from the Clark County Courthouse could be extended to wrap around the back of the facade “to make a surprise park,” she said.

John D. Ferris, a Marshall city alderman who represents Ward 1, said the park could be a public/private project, as the land is privately owned. In addition, evaluators said Marshall also lacks a downtown public restroom, something that could be included in the community’s streetscape plan, Ferris said.

“The courthouse has a restroom, but it is down in the basement and is not easily accessible,” Ferris said.

Marshall residents were considered very friendly and helpful, according to swap evaluators.

“You go into different locations and ask for directions or go into the chamber office and pretend you are relocating,” Macke said. “There was a lot of cross promoting going on, as the chamber would cross promote things going on in the community, such as the local Friday night band concerts, farmers’ market and restaurants,” Macke said.

“There was also good service and food at the restaurants and very positive things to say about the school system,” Macke said of Marshall.

Each team, visiting Marshall and Sullivan, comprised at least eight people, from various backgrounds and ages, such as a senior citizen and a mother of young children, Macke said.

Each group looked at community entrances, housing, schools, central business district, churches, tourism, infrastructure, local industry and health care services. They also sought information from community residents, such as asking about restaurants or how to get to a location in the community.

Evaluators said both communities could use more directional signage for visitors, pointing out locations such as a public library, courthouse or business area, Macke said.

“It is interesting to see how other communities react to their ‘opportunities,’” a term Jim Ryan said he uses to describe hardships. Ryan is a former city councilman and a member of Marshall-in-Motion which evaluated Sullivan.

“I think we learned that since they are not on an interstate highway, [Sullivan] does not have the retail establishments like us, with Walmart etc. and we have three motels.

“Sullivan has a very friendly attitude and people are extremely friendly. They have several features we might enjoy having such as a better senior citizens center, shall I say, a little more activity. We feel like we have several advantages. One thing that we discovered accidentally is we [Marshall] have about half as many city employees as they do,” Ryan said.

Both communities are their county seats. Each also has its own electrical utility, buying power from a larger utility. And both have generators that can provide power to their communities in the event of an outage, Ferris said.

“For me, personally, I thought they were very nice about it and I thought they probably could be a little more critical,” Ferris said.

Ferris said from a governmental aspect, he thinks Marshall operates more efficiently with its utilities, which shares equipment. “We may have two backhoes that we utilize throughout all the departments, while they have six” for use in four separate areas, he said.

Ferris said Marshall is not in debt and has funding for its utilities, but will soon face major expenditures for new electrical substations. “It is something that has to be done,” within the next two years. The community will have to research increasing its rates to pay for the upgrades, that could cost $1.5 million to $2 million, he said. The community will also have to upgrade its sewers, a project for which Marshall officials hope to obtain state grants, Ferris said.

Howard Greninger can be contacted at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.

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