David Eichler Photos / Blockshopper

Built in 1949, this Traditional trilevel in Haskins Estates has been remodeled. It provides more than 3,600 square feet and offers multiple decks.

2104 Forest Ave., Belmont - $1.23 million

The basics: Built in 1949, this Traditional trilevel in Haskins Estates has been remodeled and offers multiple decks with bay, canyon and city views.

The home sits on 0.45 sloping acres and includes a guest house, a spa and a wine cellar for 1,500 bottles. The property has a large, fenced backyard with oak and fruit trees as well as a creek.

There are two master suites, with one on the main level. The lower-level suite offers access to a private deck.

Vaulted ceilings with beams and hardwood floors highlight the formal dining and living rooms, which both open to a wraparound deck. The living room also has a wood-burning stone fireplace.

An eat-in kitchen features tiled flooring and granite countertops.

A second fireplace can be found in the lower-level recreation-media room, which has French doors to a deck with a spa that overlooks the bay. This level includes a separate au-pair or in-law quarters with a living room, kitchen, bedroom and bath.

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Belmont trilevel home features two master suites

With my son playing Babe Ruth Baseball at Guy Smith Park, I have had several opportunities to drive past the location of the new Dream Park on Chestnut Street and would encourage others to drive through this blighted section of Greenville to see where your tax dollars are going. I have to agree with our city leaders that something needs to be done about this run-down area but I am not sure a Dream Park is the answer.

Judging from the large number of people just hanging out on front porches and in the area of the existing park, I would say that what they need help with is jobs.

Helping these residents find meaningful job opportunities is the only lasting solution to the economic plight of this neighborhood. I am afraid a new park will do little to raise the property values in the neighborhood, although I am sure the unemployed and homeless will enjoy having a new half-million dollar park to hang out in instead of the old one they currently enjoy.

I hope the budget for the new park includes money for a plaque recognizing our current mayor and City Council members who voted to spend tax dollars on the new park so we can remember them when we ride through the neighborhood in five years to see how much the area has improved around the Dream Park.

DAVID A. SNEED

Greenville

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Letter: Park not what blighted area needs

Work is well under way on the renovation of the Ipswich Baptist Church near McDonalds. It is being turned into a new community performance space especially for young performers.

David Nielsen

THE much-anticipated transformation of the former Ipswich Baptist Church into a community performance venue is only months away.

The church in the Top of Town section of Brisbane St is next to the 24/7 McDonald's restaurant that opened in December 2009.

As part of its application to build the store, McDonald's pledged to restore the disused church and hand it to the community.

In January 2009 McDonald's added a tasty topping to the deal, pledging $50,000 towards renovating inside the 133-year-old building.

Since then, Ipswich City Council had been able to garner financial support from the Federal Government to help make a dream become reality.

The council said the project was due to be finished in September/October and would be opened shortly afterwards as a state-of-the art performance space especially for use by organisations working with young people.

"The renovation and restoration is being made possible with the assistance of $1.5 million of Federal Government funding under the Better Regions Program. The upgrade includes $500,000 for staging, lighting and sound," councillor Charlie Pisasale said.

"In-kind and cash was contributed by McDonald's.

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Church to be performing arts spot

PERRY, IA. The Rev. Gregg Davison has stood before his fledgling congregation and told them, If we build it, they will come.

Davison is halfway there. More than 300 Pentecostals from across the country traveled to the heart of Iowa last week to build a house of worship for his church.

The building seemed to literally go up overnight as part of the Church in a Day program created by United Pentecostal Church International, headquartered in Missouri. Professional contractors, many of them volunteers, finish the foundation, plumbing and electricity before erecting the building itself in about 24 hours. More than 80 churches have been completed, including now three in Iowa.

The smell of freshly cut wood on Saturday mingled with the clank of hammers and the buzz of saws. A bustle of men, women and children all calling each other brother and sister worked together toward one purpose.

It has been a long journey for Davison, 41, and his wife. They first came to Perry seven years ago, he said, to start a Bible study at the behest of God. It was two years before the first townsperson joined them. Their faith never wavered.

Without a test, we cant have a testimony, Davison said. We knew if we planted the seed, God said he would bring up a harvest.

Not even the weather has seemed to cooperate. An ice storm hit when the Davisons moved to Perry for good in 2007 to start a home mission.

On Friday, a cold rain pummeled the work site, but the Christians soldiered on. The 20 or so roofers, fed by a steady supply of food and drink by women and children, did not come down until the project was completed. By then the crew had endured several downpours, said Warren Amling, 57, of Dubuque.

The storm dropped hail on parts of central Iowa. The church was sheltered from the pelting, said Amling, who has been in Perry since Tuesday.

It was just one family, one goal. The Lord definitely had his hand in this, Amling said.

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Against all odds, Perry church built in 24 hours

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - City officials hope that building a new Church Street from Monroe Street to Oakwood Avenue will open the area for redevelopment and will offer another convenient route from north Huntsville to downtown.

A major step in those plans took place on Friday in Montgomery when the Alabama Department of Transportation opened bids to build the phase between Pratt and Oakwood avenues.

APAC Mid-South Inc. of Birmingham submitted an apparent low bid of nearly $3.2 million to build the new five-lane street.

It could be several months before work actually begins. The state must verify that APAC's bid meets specifications and draw up a contract for both sides to sign. The contractor also needs time to prepare for the project.

Once started, construction is expected to take more than a year.

The new Church Street between Pratt and Oakwood avenues will follow Orchard Street from Pratt to Pearl Avenue and then shift west and follow Hundley Drive to Oakwood.

The city two years ago bought 40 houses and businesses on Oakwood, Hundley and Orchard and either demolished the buildings or sold them with the requirement that the buyers move them.

The other Church Street phase will be a combination of moving or widening the existing street between Monroe and Pratt. It will include removing a severe curve on Pratt just east of Church, building a new Wheeler Avenue from the new Church to Memorial Parkway and removing Pegram Street. The city's Municipal Justice and Public Safety Center and the Madison County Sheriff's Department offices are both on Wheeler.

A firm construction date for the Monroe to Pratt phase has not been set.

Other DOT bids

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Construction of new Church Street between Pratt and Oakwood avenues moving toward reality

EMMA BAILEY

MYTCHALL BRANSGROVE/ Fairfax NZ

ELECTRIFIED: Des, left, with Jim Spillane (with Callum McDonald working in the background) at Sullivan and Spillane.

The business ushered in the age of colour televisions with a waiting list to buy the then modern gadgets - decades later the market is flooded with TVs and the consumer flooded with large retailers to buy them from.

Business reporter Emma Bailey talks to Jim Spillane about Sullivan and Spillane, the electrical business which went back to basics allowing it to survive 40 years.

How did the business start?

Peter Spillane and I worked for Temuka Electrical Services but it was brought by the South Canterbury Power Board in 1972 so we set up Sullivan and Spillane Electrical in Temuka.

We started with two staff but quickly grew to eight as there was a bit of a local boom in Temuka, with building and also farmers still getting subsidies, it was a fools' paradise, really. We started doing a lot of (electrical work on) dairy sheds and irrigation too, the dairy boom was just stirring and lot of farmers were setting up irrigation, it was in its embryonic stage.

We were also doing the (electrical) work for three wool scours, two flour mills and the linen flax mill near Geraldine. They no longer exist.

We went into retailing and had a store in Timaru, Temuka and Pleasant Point and at the peak had 40 staff. We were selling colour TVs and had waiting lists for them as well as automatic washing machines.

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Firm going strong in electrical services

Henrietta rules the roost.

A sturdy redhead, she wasnt above taking out a rival in the early days of sorting out the pecking order.

Big boss woman. She doesnt take any crap from anyone, Dawn Schmeckpeper said.

Shes mellowed with maturity, even taking timid blond Chicken under her wing. But newcomers Zebra and Hawk know whos in charge in this yard when Henrietta struts by.

For the Schmeckpepers, having chickens at their North Side home over the past year hasnt just meant eggs. Its entertainment.

Theyre a hoot to watch, Dawn said. Weve had a blast.

La Crosse began allowing residents to keep up to five hens at home in June 2011. The number of people seeking licenses so far has been small only four, though another three were approved May 10 and four more have applied for consideration in June.

Those who have taken the plunge into raising poultry, however, say theyve been worth the investment, though more pet than livestock.

Tending the flock

The Schmeckpepers got their first chicks in July, including Rhode Island red Henrietta, silky Japanese bantams and a buff Orpington they dubbed Chicken because shes afraid of everything. They added Zebra and tan Hawk this year.

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Number of La Crosse chicken flocks small but growing

The Kokomo-Howard County Public Librarys Outreach Building is looking good from the outside, but library officials indicated this week theyll need additional funds to complete the project.

Last year, the library board appropriated $875,000 for the new building, which sits just to the east of the Main Library downtown.

Friday, library interim director Peg Harmon said the building project is on schedule and on budget, and said plans are to begin moving into the building this summer.

But board members heard Monday about another $36,000 in proposed additions to the building, items which werent included in the building plans.

The biggest chunk of the additional expenses is for telecommunications infrastructure, including phones, cabling and a Wi-Fi system. Also being considered are $5,450 for shelving and $4,425 for a door access system.

The new building will house the librarys collection management and outreach departments.

Collection management catalogs new materials and prepares them for the librarys public collection, and also culls dated materials from the shelves. Outreach deals primarily with the librarys two bookmobiles.

A large garage where the bookmobiles will be parked is included in the building.

Harmon said the board received information on the additional items Monday, but didnt take any action.

Board members originally hoped to complete both the renovation of the Main Library and the outreach building for a total of $4.5 million.

Original post:
Library building costs may rise to finish project

In 1980, John Mendenhall found three 1880 J. R. Scott campaign posters in a home he was restoring. The Commercial-News did a full-page article on Mendenhalls restoration project on the historic house Enoch Newkirk built, but little was written about the politicians competing in the election mentioned on the posters. The posters had been carefully folded. Two were placed in a newel post and the third behind the trim on a kitchen door. They had been there 100 years when John found them.

I have always wondered who J. R. Scott was, and how he did in the election, John told me as he showed me one of the posters in his Danville home. He lives in the Renaissance District and the rooms of his home are furnished with heirlooms from the past. He has a deep appreciation for fine woodcraft of the past, and the expertise to restore it.

The candidates in 1880 were James R. Scott and Joseph Gurney Cannon (Uncle Joe) and they were competing for a seat in Congress. Scott was a wealthy farmer and was representing the Democrats. Cannon was the incumbent Republican and he was running for his fifth term as a U. S. representative.

Scott was campaigning on the issue the Greenback Party backed. That was the printing of paper money by the government rather than a monetary system based on gold and silver. The party believed flooding the market with new greenbacks would allow farmers to pay off their debts with cheaper dollars. Farmers were attempting to recover from a severe recession that followed the Civil War.

Cannons supporters referred to Scott as a democratic greenback puttyhead and noted the incumbent by all means should be sent back to Washington. But Scott also had his supporters and one of them was Danville Medal of Honor recipient John Charles Black. When Black spoke at the Lincoln Opera House on Danvilles Main Street, he backed Scott and the Democratic ticket with a fiery speech that his party cheered. The Republicans cited the address as being as bitter as wormwood and gall.

Campaign events in 1880 werent only speeches by the candidates; there was also entertainment. Nearly every village had a band and they played at these events. Uncle Joe Cannon also was assisted at his engagements by the Rough and Ready Glee Club of Danville.

Scott was a worthy candidate; he was credited with assisting in establishing the University of Illinois and was very active in various agricultural organizations. But Cannon did not take him seriously enough to include him in his memoirs; the election of 1880 was not mentioned. Cannon felt the contest of 1874 was his greatest contest to date, when he was opposed by James H. Pickerel of Harristown. Like Scott, Pickerel was supported by the Democrats and Greenbackers. Cannon recalled they gave him a lot of trouble in that contest.

Pickerel, like Scott, was a wealthy farmer and he had a prize bull, which he took with him to fairs where farmers showed their livestock. Fairs were fine venues for political speakers during the era, and Cannon noted Pickerel used his bull to draw a crowd, and would then deliver a speech.

On one occasion Cannon was speaking and noticed his listeners were drifting away. He then discovered Pickerel had moved his bull near enough for the people to see him and they were going over for a look. He told the crowd, I see there are three candidates here Mr. Pickerel, the bull and me and I would like to know whether you are going to vote to send Pickerel or the bull to Congress in my place. Cannon observed that statement was soon being told all over the district and it ran Pickerel and the bull out of the campaign.

Scott didnt have a bull to draw a crowd, but he did speak often and effectively to large audiences in the county. What has he (Cannon) done? was a question posed by the Democrats. Evidently the voters thought he had done enough, for they sent Uncle Joe back to Congress. But Scott did give him a run in Vermilion County, defeating him in four townships; Blount, Carroll, Newell, and Sidell.

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Posters recall Cannon’s 1880 opponent

Staff Writer

Rob Mauldin is no playwright, but he is hoping to write a third act for a building that has already seen 130 years of Augusta history.

JACKIE RICCIARDI/STAFF

Rob Mauldin, the vice president and principal architect at 2KM Architects, gives a tour of the Phinizy House. The firm is working to restore the downtown complex, built about 1882.

JACKIE RICCIARDI/STAFF

Rob Mauldin shows the detail on an old doorknob. Former mayor Jacob Phinizy built the home.

JACKIE RICCIARDI/STAFF

2KM project manager Michael Grenz, who is trained in art restoration, is studying several murals that were discovered.

It began as the fine home of a wealthy man during Americas Gilded Age. Its second act lasted more than 60 years as the last place thousands of Augustans passed through on their way to a final resting place.

Now workers are restoring the rambling complex on the corner of Monument and Greene streets after it sat empty and crumbling for almost a decade. Mauldin said when he and his partner, Dan King, bought the property in 2010, roof leaks and general neglect had taken a heavy toll.

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Augusta firm is restoring 130-year-old Phinizy home