City to Move Forward on Schoolhouse Restoration

A timely donation of $25,000 from local philanthropist Charles Todd has allowed the City of Columbia to move forward on pursuing a grant to fund restoration of the Shoemaker Schoolhouse as a new Monroe County Welcome Center. The Columbia City Council will vote Monday evening whether or not to authorize the submission of an application to the State of Illinois to provide roughly half of the funds needed to complete the nearly $59,000 project. Todd's donation--along with "in kind" contributions from the City and volunteers--will provide the matching funds needed for the grant.

The project will renovate a one-room schoolhouse built around 1850 for use as a facility to serve visitors. The schoolhouse is located on Illinois Route 3, the Great River Road Scenic Byway and—much earlier--the Kaskaskia Trace, in Columbia, three miles southeast of I-255.

Since Illinois 3 is the first exit for travelers crossing the Jefferson Barracks Bridge into the state, visitor use of the facility, when open, is expected to be high. The Tourism Bureau Southwest Illinois estimates that the Welcome Center could, conservatively, generate $50,460 per month in economic impact or $605,520 annually.