Full Text of HR0827 95th General Assembly
HR0827 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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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| 1973, months prior to the anticipated date; and
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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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| 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
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 5 |
| presented to John Reilly as a symbol of our respect and esteem.
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