CAIRO GETS $1 MILLION IN GRANTS

CAIRO -- The three-level "Custom House" will take on more of its 1870s interior look following a $190,000 restoration and renovation project of the top two floors of the 122-year-old building this year.

Cairo is one of several Southern Illinois communities that will receive Department of Transportations grants designed for restoration of historic sites related to transportation, bicycle and pedestrian trails, highway landscaping and advertising.

Gov. Jim Edgar announced the grant earlier last week, along with a second Cairo grant for more than $800,000 to be used to help restore the city's historic commercial district.

The second portion of the funds will be used to uncover historic old brick streets and install historically accurate lights in downtown Cairo, -- Commercial, from 6th to 10th streets; 7th Street from Washington to Commerce and 8th Street from Washington to Ohio.

"We'll use a portion of the Custom House funds to install heating and air-conditioning," said Louis Ogg, a member of the Custom House Commission, which was appointed by the city in the mid-1980s to provide for restoration of the building for use as a museum.

"We'll also restore the Custom House offices located on the second floor, and restore the court room on the third floor. We'd like to use six or seven rooms on the second floor for individual galleries -- pharmacy displays, medical and/or surgical tools displays, and other exhibits," added Ogg.

The third floor is basically in pretty good condition.

"We have all of the courtroom seats, the jury box, and everything is the way it was when it opened in 1872," said Ogg. "We have a number of old law books which will be placed in the judge's chambers, located by the courtroom."

"We're grateful to the IDOT, the Historic Preservation Agency and Gov. Jim Edgar for fully funding restoration of this (Custom House) historic landmark," said Monica Smith, who is chairman of the custom House restoration. "After a decade of volunteer efforts to preserve the building, we can now expect to complete the museum rapidly."

James Wilson, mayor of Cairo, was pleased with the two awards.

"These grants will not only beautify and preserve our history, but will provide jobs, stimulate the economy and instill civic pride," he said. "They represent a significant step in Cairo's efforts to increase regional tourism. We're grateful to the state government for its recognition and assistance."

"Since Cairo has many historic buildings related to transportation, we are ideally qualified for IDOT Historic Preservation Grants," said Helen Bishoff, head of the Grant Writing Committee. "We plan to apply for subsequent phases of Project Cairo this summer. Our committee intends to apply for other grants to benefit the community as they become available. Recreation for our youth, especially a swimming pool, is a high priority."

Earlier, the voluntary group received grants for St. Mary's Park Pavilion and a restoration project for Magnolia Manor, a historic mansion in Cairo.

The first floor of the Customs House has been restored and renovated with voluntary funds.

"We opened to the public in November of 1992," said Ogg. "We're open five days a week -- Monday through Friday."

The "centerpiece" exhibit on the first floor of the museum is a model of the Civil War Gunboat Cairo. The original gunboat, which was built at nearby Mound City, Ill., was put into service in 1862, but had a short-lived life as it went down in the Yazoo River on Dec. 12, 1862, during a Civil War battle. The actual gunboat has been raised and re-assembled at the Vicksburg, Miss., Civil War Park.

A second "centerpiece" is the Grant exhibit. It features the desk used by Gen. U.S. Grant during his command at Cairo, during the first six months of the Civil War.

The three-floor structure located at 1400 Washington in Cairo was constructed following the Civil War, and opened its doors on June 16, 1872.

The building, which has housed custom offices, a post office, police station, federal court and other government agencies, closed 103 years later, in 1975, when the Cairo Police Department moved into its own facility across the street.

It reopened in 1992.

"We have received a number of items for the museum," said Ogg, former librarian at the Cairo Public Library and local historian. "Part of the post office display came from an old post office at Pomona, Ill; we have exhibits of bottles -- champaign and soda bottles -- from the old Steam Bottling Works; we have a display of old post office stamp scales, a turn-of-the-century telephone booth, and many other historic displays."

The Customs House will receive another big item next week.

"We've made arrangements for a railroad caboose," said Ogg. "It will be placed on the back corner of the block."

This will fill the four corners of the city block.

"We have World War I and Civil War cannons on two corners," said Ogg. "An old Civil War gunboat anchor fills space in a third corner."

The Custom House, which is listed on the National Historic Register, was designed by a noted architect of that era. Alfred B. Mullett is best known as the architect of the U.S. Treasury Building in Washington D.C., and the San Francisco Mint, said Ogg.

The Cairo Custom House was designed to house the custom office and the Post Office on the first floor, various government agencies on the second floor, and the federal court room on the third floor.

Cairo's total IDOT grants were second only to those granted for the Tunnel Hill Bike Trail, a proposed 42-mile bicycle trail between Harrisburg and Karnak. The bike trail group will receive $2.1 million for engineering and construction of the trail, which will cut through the heart of the Shawnee National Forest.