After state and federal legislators joined with Shelby and Moultrie County leaders to hold a press conference last month that blistered the Illinois Department of Natural Resource (IDNR) for its complete and total lack of action with respect to the Eagle Creek Resort, IDNR finally moved forward with a study that the agency had promised local leaders would be completed last summer.
“It is about darn time,” said a frustrated State Senator Chapin Rose. “It shouldn’t take the entire legislative delegation combined with our local leaders to get them to follow through on what they promised the community. I’m glad this is moving forward, but they’ve lost six months of critical time that cannot be made up,” he concluded.
The IDNR has now posted a request for services for professional architects/engineers to evaluate the entire 138 room Eagle Creek Resort and Conference Center that has been closed since 2009. The state had contracted with BMDD Resorts of Decatur to reopen the resort, but that contract was terminated after BMDD walked off the site last winter. IDNR officials at that time promised swift action toward reopening the park – that promise came six months ago.
But after months of inaction from IDNR, Senator Rose stood with State Representative Adam Brown (R-Decatur), Congressman John Shimkus (R-Collinsville), and Shelby and Moultrie County Board Chairs and local Mayors last month to publicly excoriate the Department for its’ lack of action.
“I’m glad we can finally move forward on this,” said Senator Rose. “But if past agency inaction is any indicator, we will have to remain vigilant to keep the process on track,” he concluded.