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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are pleased to congratulate John Reilly, owner
4 of the Rend Lake Resort & Conference Center at Rend Lake, on
5 his hard work in making the Rend Lake area one of Illinois'
6 brightest tourism areas; and
 
7     WHEREAS, For decades the land surrounding Rend Lake was
8 plagued by a lack of water, despite plentiful rainfall, and its
9 location between two of the nation's great rivers, the
10 Mississippi River and the Ohio River; although the region
11 flourished as a coal mining area in the early 1920's, the
12 land's impermeable clays were incapable of soaking in rain,
13 making ground water scarce; and
 
14     WHEREAS, By the 1950's, the onset of an economically
15 devastating three-year drought took its toll on the region; as
16 a result, plans to construct a large water supply lake were
17 started, and evolved into the project that would become Rend
18 Lake; with the support of the Rend Lake Conservancy District,
19 Congress authorized the building of Rend Lake, near Benton, in
20 accordance with the United States Army Corps Chief of
21 Engineers' recommendation; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
22 accepted the responsibility for the lake's development and the
23 $60 million project was completed ahead of schedule in March of

 

 

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1 1973, months prior to the anticipated date; and
 
2     WHEREAS, The authorized purposes of the Rend Lake project
3 include flood control on the Big Muddy and Mississippi Rivers,
4 water supply, water quality control, fish and wildlife
5 conservation, recreation, and area redevelopment; today, Rend
6 Lake is a multi-purpose project designed to enhance the
7 region's quality of life, supplying over 15 million gallons of
8 water per day to 300,000 persons in over 60 communities; and
 
9     WHEREAS, John Reilly became the owner of the Rend Lake
10 Resort & Conference Center in 1990; after renovations, the
11 Center now has 105 rooms, a state-of-the-art conference center,
12 a Great Room, a gift shop, a general store, and a lounge named
13 after Mr. Reilly; and
 
14     WHEREAS, John Reilly is referred to as the "Ambassador for
15 Southern Illinois" for his hard work on behalf of the people of
16 Southern Illinois; he has made appearances on WGN-AM radio in
17 Chicago and with Mike Shannon on the radio in St. Louis, always
18 to promote and encourage tourism in the southern part of the
19 State; therefore, be it
 
20     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
21 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
22 thank John Reilly for his hard work in bringing Southern

 

 

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1 Illinois to the forefront in Illinois tourism, for spreading
2 the good word about Rend Lake, and for caring about the area he
3 calls home; and be it further
 
4     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
5 presented to John Reilly as a symbol of our respect and esteem.