Support efforts to revitalize Illmo

To the editor:

I have read with great interest the articles written about Paul Schock and his Community Arts Center. I've known Paul for over a year. During this time I have seen him devote many hours to revive Illmo. Paul knows as much history about Illmo and Scott City as any lifelong resident.

Paul came to Illmo and saw it as a place with great possibilities. He fell in love with our town and only has good intentions for it. His goal is to make it thrive again. Perhaps if there were more residents offering help and support instead of criticism, Illmo would again be the bustling town it once was. We should thank Paul Schock for having a dream for Illmo. He's the first to promote businesses here. Those of you who are so quick to judge and criticize should take the time to get to know Paul. He only has good intentions for our town.

If you take a minute to study the art on the building in Illmo -- especially the "Operation Game" -- you would see this piece is about stress in our lives. Perhaps there is something to be learned from it. I would hope those of you who criticize this art aren't watching prime time television or MTV. Our goal as a community should be to return Illmo to a revenue-generating community that we can all enjoy. Perhaps we should work together toward this goal.

RENAE GIBBS

Scott City