Name This Peoria Landmark

Peoria Landmark #293

Yes, this is the infamous basketball court that Alexis Khazzam built and then rebuilt. I understand the argument, but if you’ve even driven down this stretch of  Beach Street, as I did when I found and took this photo, you know it is nothing more than a glorified alley.

If you have a library card you can look up the Journal Star archives; barring that, here’s some other reading material on the issue:

http://peoriachronicle.com/2006/07/11/dear-alexis-xxoo-love-phil/

http://peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/2006/06/29/zone-defense-in-the-heights-leave-kids-in-the-lurch/

Peoria Landmark #272

Dave: “It Is upper free bridge road in east peoria,The road that gave access to the upper free bridge”

Ross is correct in all except the name of the road, “I think this is over in East Peoria, next to the junkyard near McCluggage bridge. I believe it’s Grossenbach Hill Road. That road keeps going past the little gate and you end up in the marhslands or whatever right next to the river,” but Google Maps calls it Grossenback Hill Road, so it seems the names may be interchangable.

I had a feeling no-one would know this one… it’s the first hole at Arrowhead Country Club.

In the spring of 1957, the idea of a country club was first conceived. The first formal organization meeting was held April 1, 1958. A constitution and by-laws were adopted and the first slate of officers elected. Membership reached 176 in May, 1958, and in June a golf course architect was hired.

In the summer of 1959, a golf course construction company was employed to build the first nine holes at a cost of $32,000. The work was finished in July, 1960. The greens and fairways were then planted and sowed. Roy McIntyre was hired as greenskeeper in the spring of 1961, and play began in June. [...] The second nine holes were completed in 1971.

-A Brief History of Arrowhead Country Club

Dreaming of summer.

tls1995: “Statue in the children’s section of the Luthy Botanical Garden over by the park.”

A plaque nearby reads…

The Children’s Garden

This garden will serve as a constant reminder of the importance of nurturing and protecting children and families as our most important community resource while providing a beautiful oasis from the stresses of daily life.

Dedicated April 24, 1998

While we’re waiting for spring to come, visit this web site and remind yourself of the beauty that is Luthy Botanical Gardens.

This post is specifically geared towards my fellow Peoria bloggers. In trying to maintain two blogrolls, the end result was I wasn’t maintaining either. They were seriously out of date. Over the weekend I took the time to update my blogroll on the Peoria Illinoisan site, but after spending a good hour on it, I really didn’t want to try to replicate it here. Knowing that I would get caught in the same trap of not keeping them up to date, I decided to maintain the full blogroll on my other site and not attempt to do the same here.

I did add some interesting sites to my sidebar here that I like to read, and fans of architecture, photos journals and preservation will enjoy. Check them out.

As always, thanks for reading.
-P.I.

This is a test of the Historic Preservation Commission. The bloggers of your area in voluntary cooperation with the Federal, State and local authorities have developed this system to keep you informed in the event of an emergency. If this had been an actual emergency, this blog entry would have been followed by official information, news or instructions. This blog serves the Greater Peoria area. This concludes this test of the Historic Preservation Commission.

Soon to be voted as whether it should be granted historic landmark status. If yes, the city pisses off AMVETS, who want to sell it and move out to the old Penguin Tap in Peoria Heights. That will also piss off neighboring Riverside Community Church who is planning on buying the building so they may expand by tearing it down.

CJ Summers has been discussing this issue at length here, here, and here. He also took the time to acquire and retype part of the hand written application.

Built and dedicated in 1916, the United Duroc Bldg. is a Colonial Revival style with significant architectural features that meet criteria #4 and #6. Features include white enamel (glazed) brick and glazed terra cotta; there are elaborate decorative crowns above the dual entrances, fanlight-transom windows, terra cotta cornices, trabeated pilasters with triglyphs and gutta, Palladian windows.

Designed by WH Reeves and built by WM Allen, two key men involved in the design and construction of Peoria’s most notable buildings including Peoria’s City Hall, Spalding Institute, Glen Oak Park Pavilion, St. Augustine Manor, Peoria State Hospital, Mohammed Temple and many others.

The United Duroc building was also home to: the distinguished University Club, Battle Creek Baths and a Comptometer School and publishing company.

You can probably figure out my stance on the issue. With the uncertainly surrounding this building, I figured I’d better get a photo before it gets razed under the cover of darkness.

According to Bradley University’s website, the Markin Family Student Recreation Center will contain a jogging/walking track, swimming pool, weight training, aerobics and fitness facility, four basketball courts for intramural games, championship basketball court and a juice bar and café.

The Markin Rec Center is named after David Markin, current resident of Kalamazoo, Michigan and 1953 Bradley graduate who donated $1 million to help build Bradley’s David R. Markin Tennis Courts and $8 million towards this project; also from Bradley’s website:

David Markin received his bachelor’s degree in business in 1953. As a student at Bradley, he was captain of the tennis team and a co-founder and president of his fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi. Following graduation he joined his family’s business, Checker Motors Co. As its CEO, he expanded the company from a manufacturer of a single product to a major supplier to the automobile industry. On the national tennis scene, Mr. Markin served as president of the United States Tennis Association and piloted the development and building of the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York.

Mr. Markin is the only individual to twice receive Bradley’s President’s Award for leadership, service, and philanthropic support. He is a Bradley Centurion and was the 1999 recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award. He served on the Bradley Board of Trustees from 1992 to 2004 and is now an honorary member. The David R. Markin Tennis Courts, dedicated in 1998, were named in honor of his generous support to the University, and ground was broken for the Markin Family Student Recreation Center in the spring of 2007. The Markin Center is projected to be completed in the fall of 2008.

* Inside photos courtesy of an anonymous reader.