THE  DAY  THE  EARTH  MOVED

                                         NORMAN  V.  KELLY

Bartels:  So, Norm, you got me out here at Exposition Gardens, What did you do find a dead body for me to write about?

 
Kelly:  I wish I had but no such luck.

Bartels:  You told me that you had a surprise to tell me about, all I see is a lot of empty spaces and an old building. Don’t sound like much of a story to me.

Kelly:   That’s the problem with you investigative reporter types, you have no imagination…look out there is that all you really see?

Bartels:  Well, I was here in July and saw a Ferris wheel and some drunks over there in the beer garden.

Kelly:  Good, that’s a start. DeWayne have you ever wondered how all this started, I mean really got its start?

Bartels:  Not really, I mean I guess one day it was a farm like everything else around here and then…presto…it’s the Heart Of Illinois Fair. 

Kelly:  Very observant there Jimmy Olsen, but there is a bit more to it.  Would you like me to tell you the rest of the story? 

Bartels:  Can you do it in fifteen minutes?  I gotta get some fertilizer on my lawn before it rains.

Kelly:  I’ll try, lets go over here and sit down.
 

                                     ONCE  UPON  A  TIME

 

Kelly:  Well, DeWayne my son it was a long time ago, way back in 1943, you remember World War 11, don’t you?

Bartels:  I read something about it once when I was a boy.  Are you talking about here in Peoria, Illinois at that time?

Kelly:  That’s right, a man named Edgar L. Bills, a radio station guy had a dream that he shared with a few of his business type friends.  Now the war was raging on at the time, so they realized that they could only just talk about it.  So as the time went on, more and more leaders, dreamers, businessmen and civic-minded people bought into his dream.

 
Bartels:  You’re telling me that this Edgar Bills and his dream had something to do with this Exposition Gardens?

Kelly:  Absolutely. Now remember Peoria, Illinois since the beginning, way back in 1845 produced an awful lot of wealthy men and women over the years. We also had some very good and powerful leaders, and as a result we had a plethora of civic minded folks living right here in this old river city.

Bartels:  You miss those days dontcha’ Norm?

 

Kelly:  You bet, to me Peoria represented what was truly good about America…but I digress.  These men and women met, they talked at luncheons, they formed committees and they began to spread the word about this dream they had been talking about for about four years.

Bartels:  So, how did they unleash this dream on the folks in Peoria, Illinois?  I assume this took place after the war ended? 

Kelly:  Yes. In 1945 they formed a group called the Peoria District Fair Association.  They searched for and recruited a man named Arthur K. Ekstrand, and hired him as their Executive Secretary.  In May of 1946 they set his offices up in room 303 in the Alliance Life Building, the old First National Bank building. He came here with great credentials and showed the folks around here that this group was truly serious about this new project.

Bartels:  I assume they got some press coverage, but what else did they do to kick this project off?

Kelly:   It was July 10, 1946 when Mr. Bills authored, along with a lot of help, a brochure entitled Exposition Gardens. In it he outlined the dream in great detail.  He explained that their dream was to build a place for all of Peoria and the surrounding communities to gather for cultural, social, recreational and business activities. He told everyone that it was his group’s intention to provide the facilities for us here in The Heart of Illinois to gather together for recreation and socializing. 

Bartels:  Would it be safe to assume that you have a copy of that brochure?

Kelly:  Absolutely.  He went on to say that their plan was to make Exposition Gardens the center for the good things in life.  He meant that they intended making the Heart Of Illinois an even better place to live, work and raise a family.

Bartels:  Aha, so when he sent out that brochure was he talking about this place right here where we are now?

Kelly:  Well…In a way he was. You see they had not selected a place as of yet, and of course they did not have the money to purchase one even if they had one in mind. 

Bartels:  No wonder they called it a dream.  So the pitch was to sell this dream as an idea and what…raise money from the folks around here?

Kelly:  Exactly.

Bartels:  That sounds like just another money making scheme to me. 

Kelly:  Sure does…in fact you are exactly right…it was a scheme…and in fact it was a money making scheme…and it worked.

 

Bartels:  You’re telling me that this scheme was just that?  Some people get together they have this big dream and the whole idea is to make money?  Is that what you are saying?

 

Kelly?  Well, you gotta have money to build a dream on so that was the plan. The beautiful part of this dream was that it was perpetrated by decent, honest, hard-working citizens, and it was meant to bring this area together.  And…it did just that.  They had already gathered together $40,000.00 or so among themselves and all they had to do was gain the support of about one-half million people.  That meant the Heart of Illinois.

 

Bartels:  Honest citizens huh?  Okay so what was their pitch to raise the money to build this Exposition Gardens way out here in the middle of nowhere?

 

Kelly:     There is a general not-for-profit Act in Illinois, and the first thing these dreamers did was form a non-profit organization.  Get it… non-profit?

 

Bartels: Yeah, I get that there are a lot of those around and many times most of the money goes to administrative staff and little is ever done to benefit ordinary citizens.

 

Kelly:  I could name plenty of those myself, but this group was totally legit and that was the first step they took to prove it. They made that agreement open and above board and the corporation made it clear that if they failed the money would go to local charities. Anyway, that’s how it all began and the money began to roll in.

 

Bartels:  Okay, so I assume that they had some kind of trust where the money was kept?

 

Kelly:  Absolutely.  At the time John Cassidy was president of the Peoria Association of Commerce and later he became the Attorney General of Illinois. Cassidy’s group was totally behind this idea and that meant a lot, I can tell you that.   Mr. Bills, Tom O’Connor, Peter Naughton, Edward Keefer, Lyle Roszell, H.J. Schmoeger and many, many others joined the board that would oversee this project and I can tell you these were prominent men in our community.

 

Bartels:  So, Norm, once the folks in these parts saw who was behind this Exposition Gardens dream, most of them were all for it?

 

Kelly:  Well, not everyone. You know DeWayne I have been here a long time and no matter what project is proposed I was always amazed at the number of people that were totally against any proposed project.  I could write a book about all that negativism.

 

Bartels: I have witnessed that as well.  That’s what being a red blooded American is all about, I guess, the right to vote the way we feel.

 

Kelly:  I agree. Look at Peoria in 1845 we had a little over 1,900 people living here and yet only 215 voted in the proposition for us to become a city. Even then 53 people said NAY.  So, in this case there was no vote to be had but you could vote in another manner.

 

Bartels:  I bet you mean a donation…right?

 

Kelly: I see you are paying attention and you are absolutely right. In some instances businesses, and people with some wealth just flat out donated money to the cause. However, just over 24,000 people in this area bought stock in this dream.

 

Bartels:  Stock…I don’t like the sound of that.  Stock in a non-profit organization sounds fishy to me especially if it’s my money.

 

Kelly:  Well the truth is a twenty-five dollar donation bought you one share

in the perpetuation of this civic dream. Of course it was WORTHLESS.

 

Bartels:  Norm you are starting to lose me. Way back in 1946 or so I give this Expo Corporation $25 bucks, they give me a piece of worthless paper and they call it a stock in the organization.  Sounds silly to me.

 

Kelly:  Well, DeWayne everyone understood it was just a donation. But many years later when some of these ‘Stockholders’ died, heirs found these stocks and turned them over to the estate lawyer.  They thought they had found something of value…but as I said they were worthless.  It was just a way of giving you a receipt.  The people that bought them understood exactly what they were spending their money on.

 

Bartels:  So, how many of these stock buyers fell for all that hype?  Seems like a hard sell to me.

 

Kelly: As far as I can ascertain at least 24,000 people purchased these phony stocks and of course many people gave money at fundraisers and other affairs that were put on to raise money. With so many prominent people pushing this dream, it was a piece of cake to raise the money.

 

Bartels:  Norm you said that this group of prominent people had already gathered $40,000 even before they presented this to the public.

 

Kelly: Yes, at least that much and probably more.  They put their own money into the project and then asked the public to join them.  What they were asking for is some support in the way of a donation of $25.00.  Of course some people gave a dollar, or change, whatever they could afford.  But the stock receipt cost at least $25.00.

 

Bartels:  So, add the forty grand to the stock purchases and that is something like $640,000.00.  Wow!

 

Kelly:  Wow is right. So with that kind of encouragement a small contingent of men led by A.N. Ekstand, the Executive Secretary of this non-profit came out here where we are now…well other places as well, but settled on this 160 acres of land.  It was way out in the boondocks, but this project was for the people of The Heart Of Illinois, and this seemed to be the ideal spot.

 

Bartels:  So I am guessing that this money trickled in…I mean it was an ongoing process right?

 

Kelly:  Absolutely.  But remember the idea was to get this thing up and going, you know making money.  As a non-profit ALL of the income was to go to the maintenance, building, salaries and perpetual improvement of Exposition Gardens. It was Exposition Gardens’ Bill of Rights, its Constitution, and I feel certain it exits to this day.

 

Bartels:  Norm you mentioned salaries.  See…here we go with those administrative costs we were talking about.

 

Kelly:  The group would rely heavily on volunteers, but Mr. Ekstrand was an employee that they recruited and naturally over the years there would be other paid employees. He opened his office on May 16, 1946 and away they went.    But initially it was indeed a grand community project the likes of which has never been duplicated here, I can tell you that.

 

Bartels:  Norm I am in no hurry any more and it doesn’t look like it’s going to rain after all. So, they have the money…and the backing… what happens next?

 

Kelly:  They negotiated with a farmer named Walter Poppen and purchased 160 acres.  It was a beautiful place with a grassy meadowland way out here in Peoria County.

 

Bartels:  How much did they spend?

 

Kelly:  I read different figures so I won’t say. I thought of going to the recorders office and count the real estate stamps. That gives a very good estimate. I feel certain that figure is available in their records.  After some thought I decided it just was not that important.  The important point is they now had the land and the dream seemed to be stepping out of the dream state into reality.

 

Bartels:  So they own the land, they’ve got money rolling in now do they announce any projects for the coming year?

 

Kelly:  Yes, Bills told people in the brochure that they hope to have a fair in 1946.  The idea was to make money to begin building the buildings.  They also had plans for a huge stadium.  They wanted a parking lot that would hold 3,000 cars and more ideas began to pour in. 

 

Bartels:  Norm how did they come up with the name Exposition Gardens?

 

Kelly: The word Exposition was used because of the varied types of activities that were going to be offered and Gardens came from the beautiful setting they hoped to build it on.

 

Bartels: I know that grin of yours, Norm I bet you don’t believe any of that do you?

 

Kelly:   Sounds like a promotional release to me but that was the way they truly felt. DeWayne, are you sure you want me to go really historical on you?

 

Bartels:  Sure Norm, this is a historical piece so what’s behind the name?

 

Kelly:  Just guessing, you understand, but way back in the twenties we had a place called…

 

Bartels:   Exposition Gardens…right?

Kelly:  No wonder they pay you so much DeWayne, you came pretty close to the truth. The truth is Peorians referred to the place I am going to tell you about as the Fairgrounds.  It had a one-mile track and a brick and concrete grandstand, and some small buildings.  It was an important place and all kinds of events took place there.  Does that sound familiar?   Now this stadium would seat 3,000 people and there were also a few show buildings on the property.

 

Bartels:  This Fairgrounds does sound a little like Exposition Gardens to me.

 

Kelly:  Well the formal name of the place was…wait for it…The Greater Peoria Exposition Grounds.

 

Bartels:  Aha! I can see the connection.  What happened to that place?

 

Kelly:  It went belly up and ended up owing a total of  $137,916.00.  On September 15^th. 1930 it was sold at a foreclosure auction procedure in the Peoria County Courthouse for $27,500. 

 

Bartels:  So did Peoria people lose money on that deal? 

 

Kelly: Absolutely, the bank, the people that bought the bonds, everyone concerned. It was reported that they would get back about fifteen cents for every dollar they invested.  Scary, huh?

 

Bartels: Who made the highest bid?

 

Kelly:   Edward T.  O’Connor, but he was an attorney and he was acting as an agent for someone else. So, fifteen years later it looked like Deja vu all over again when they proposed another Exposition site.

 

Bartels:  I guess people forget and I’m sure the idea was new to most people.   Norm the Richwoods Stadium over there to the east, was that one of the Expo groups projects?

 

Kelly:  Yes, and as it turned out that was a mistake?

 

Bartels:  A mistake? In what way was it a mistake?

 

Kelly:  I’ll pass on that for the moment. The stocks that were purchased were what the board members referred to as a membership.  They even stated that these members would have one vote per share when the time came to elect members of the board. So when I told you the shares were worthless…I apologize, after all, a vote is worth something.

 

Bartels:   I can see that. I assume the board and all these people, except the Executive Secretary served without compensation?

 

Kelly:  Exactly. Mr. McGrath, a Peoria attorney handled all the paper work, and believe me, the newspapers made all of the details rather clear to their readers.

 

Bartels:  So, all of the factions have gotten together. Other groups are all for it and they have an Executive Secretary and an office.  Do they continue to raise money?

 

Kelly: Oh, yes, it was ongoing. The board had dinners, speakers and of course the members were always talking about the project whenever they could.  I guess you could say it was a perpetual fundraiser agenda. They had a large sign erected right over there at the corner of University and Northmoor Road.  It said  “Future home of EXPOSITION GARDENS”. A lot of pictures were taken there and three pretty young ladies, Kathleen Sheehan, Pat Murphy, and Helen Diven appeared in the newspaper smiling and pointing at the sign.  I wonder where they are today?

 

Bartels:   I hope they are here, still alive and happy.  So the local newspapers backed this project as well?

 

Kelly: Oh, sure, along with interviews on the radio, and different ads and promotions were going on all during 1947.  During this time people kept buying these stocks and donating time and money. 

 

Bartels:  Norm what kinds of things or activities did they say they were going to have out here?

 

Kelly:  They did not exaggerate at the time, because they truly believed that they could accomplish everything they had envisioned.  Of course that is generally impossible. They wanted a huge racetrack, where they would sponsor all kinds of racing from horses, to dogs to cars, and a building bigger than the armory. In the stadium they would have football and baseball games and some big track and field events. The plan for a massive grandstand that you just mentioned was going to go forward as quickly as possible.  That is it over there and is the home stadium for Richwoods High School today.  They sunk $350,000.00 in building that stadium and sadly they never got to use it as they had envisioned.

 

Bartels:  You mean the Expo people?

 

Kelly:  That’s right. I may be getting ahead of the story, but because of over run on expenses, they were forced to sell that to bail the project out of debt. They sold the stadium and that paved the way for Richwoods High School.

The high school was then in the county and opened up as the Richwoods Community High School. That school graduated its first class in 1957.

It looked like the dream bubble was bursting, I can tell you that.

 

Bartels: So, they lost the stadium and how much land?

 

Kelly:   Eighty acres in all were sold but that enabled them to pay off their debts and build a few buildings.  Actually on June 10, 1950 a huge auction was held there on the EXPO grounds to raise money for the construction of the Youth and Agriculture Building. Over 12,000 people came and before the auction ended they raised $62,000 so you can see the community spirit prevailed once again when it came to Exposition Gardens.   There I go again, DeWayne getting off the initial story line.

 

Bartels:  I see what you mean.  Now they have to do something with all that meadowland…right? So lets go back to the beginning.

 

Kelly:  Thanks for getting me back on track.  That’s exactly right. So, on my birthday, April 24, 1948 at 6:45 in the morning it all began. I was sixteen years old and lived in El Vista.  My two friends and I got a ride to the Dixie Café and then walked out here.  What I saw was something I’ll never forget and I bet there are plenty of Peorians still around that will tell you the same thing.

 

Bartels:  It was just a big old empty, 160 acre field, Norm, Why is that memory so vivid?

 

Kelly:  I wonder if you can imagine what the roar of 150 diesel engines going full blast sounds like? The opening ceremonies began at 6:45 A.M. when dignitaries like Representative Everett Dirksen, Mayor Triebel, some senators and other local big shots opened up the proceedings with the raising of the flag. Once that aspect of the opening ceremonies was over they fired off some fireworks and some kind of exploding bomb signaled the start for the machine operators.  From the beginning the spotlight was on General Wheeler who was technically in charge of the entire earthmoving operation.

 

Bartels:   So when you arrived what was going on out here?

 

Kelly:  Hundreds of men were here and once General Wheeler gave the order and the bomb went off, 150 drivers trotted over to their earth moving machines.  They started them up and moved off to designated areas. Then suddenly all hell broke loose as they began to move every inch of dirt on that 160 acres.  It was sensational!

 

Bartels:  Were you and your friends able to walk around over near the excavation site?

 

Kelly:  Oh, no, they knew better than that. We had hoped to walk around, toss a few dirt clogs, steal a Coke, maybe a sandwich, you know the usual teenage activity. Truth is they had closed off Northmoor Road and the State of Illinois supplied 65 troopers to control what traffic they allowed on the site and of course jokers like us who wanted to actually ride on the tractors.

 

Bartels:  What happened to all those dignitaries?

 

Kelly: As usual they got a lot better treatment and were allowed to ride around on a couple of flatbeds with platforms attached and some went up in a twenty-foot crane elevated high above the activity. They had set up six or seven tents and some engineering trailers for the planners. The other tents included a doctor, some nurses, a big first aid area and a lot of chairs for the dignitaries. They had a huge tent that housed a dinning area and sixty Sigma Phi guys from Bradley came in a bus to man the tents.  Of course the general and his staff had a planning tent and I can tell you it was organized like an army camp.   We thought of trying to sneak in by acting as volunteers, but we sure as hell did not look like college kids.  Dead-end kids maybe.

 

DeWayne:  What did you do to see the action?

 

Kelly:  We had to stay over on the other side of Northmoor, but we walked up and down, hung around there at the corner and of course talked to a lot of people. It was festive, like watching a gang put up a circus or a carnival, lots of noise, machines zipping around.  They had gasoline trucks, water trucks and guys taking messages around on motorcycles as well as mobile telephones in the hands of the engineers.  Speaking of a circus a huge Cole Brothers Circus was being set up down at Lincoln and Griswald but we decided to come out here.

 

Bartels: I wonder how many people were there?

 

Kelly:  Hundreds and hundreds, I think 1,100 actually did the work. Of course the dignitaries never lifted a shovel and we noticed a lot of them hung around the tents. Being pretty wild teens, we assumed they had booze over there but we never got close enough to steal anything.

 

Bartels:  You sound like a teen gang member, Norm.

 

Kelly:  Truth is we had a gang…what a joke.  My friends called me Sam and we stuck together and we did our share of very petty theft, but it was laughable compared to today’s gangs.  We crashed our share of local events and certainly never paid to get into anything if we could avoid it.

 

Bartels: So, Norm how long did all this effort last.

 

Kelly:  Just think DeWayne all of these guys were volunteers. Most of them represented the unions around here, and I mean all kinds of different trades. They worked six-hour shifts, and as soon as the shift ended 150 more operating engineers took over the vehicles. It was amazing. But after all the entire project was coordinated by a U.S. Army General and he had a lot of assistants.

 

Bartels: Did you stay all day?

 

Kelly:  I forgot what we did for lunch.  I remember we left and came back in the evening and I can tell you the place was lit up like a carnival grounds.  They had generators roaring and small and large lights everywhere. They had portable lights that were run by a lot of generators.  Some were up in the air and most of the tractors had lights. It was ten times more exciting at night.

 

Bartels:  So were there all kinds of media covering all this activity?

 

Kelly:  Oh, sure but we would not have known what that word meant back then.  They had all the local radio stations there, WGN was represented and they aired all kinds of interviews.  We never heard them, of course, but the newspapers interviewed a lot of the folks over there in the tents. Also we watched ten or twelve airplanes that circled the grounds most of the day. I swear one of the photographers almost fell because he got out so far to get his picture. A big roar went up, I remember that.

 

Bartels: Norm you mentioned traffic, did they block off University too?

 

Kelly:  No, but they had what looked like an army of cops out there. I remember seeing car after car creep by, everyone in the car gawking and the cops yelling at them to keep moving.  For days, according to reports people drove out there to look at a huge barren plot of ground, but they kept coming.

 

Bartels:  What were these airplanes doing just flying in circles?

 

Kelly:  That’s exactly what they were doing.  I am certain newspapers hired them, but I know for a fact that some people just paid the pilot to fly around up there.  We loved airplanes and I remember us talking about flying ourselves one day. It was great fun to watch those planes and all that movement. It was truly an amazing day.

 

Bartels:  So after you go home the crews continued to work?

 

Kelly:  Absolutely.  When we came back on Sunday we could hardly believe our eyes.  They had flattened and moved all that earth around.  We got there a little before eleven and right at eleven the place went deathly quiet out there on the field.  I take that back a few airplanes were making noise, but the tractors stopped, and we hurried across Northmoor to get a closer look.  The cop didn’t yell, so we stood right there.

 

Bartels:  What on earth…pardon the pun…was happening?

 

Kelly: All the men got out of the tractors and they gathered in and just outside a couple of tents. A man went up to ask the cop what was going on and he told him that they were going to break for twenty minutes for church services.  I remember the cop pointing at us. “As soon as them engines start up you get back across the road.”  In those days kids did exactly what they were told…even me…sometimes.

 

Bartels:  So Norm when did they finish?

 

Kelly:  Newspaper accounts stated that they finished about 8 hours early so they worked nonstop for at least 40 hours. These were guys that worked not only here in the Peoria area, but around the state as well.  They brought their lowboys in loaded with all the equipment and did it at no charge. I cannot even imagine something like that going on today. This was a massive community effort, and it was all organized and run by these businessmen who somehow managed to get it all coordinated. Never in America’s history had anything like that ever happened on a scale like this.

 

Bartels:   Do you think these early dreamers had their dream fulfilled?

 

Kelly:  I’d say somewhat.  They certainly succeeded in getting the land and turning it into something very useful. However, there were a few too many “wheeler and dealers” on the board and they got a bit too grandiose in their ideas.  Another bad idea, well, it turned out that way, was the selling of coupon books to patrons for discounts and other breaks on attendance costs.  A lot of people felt cheated and this brought a lot of bad publicity.

 

Bartels: Are you saying these people thought they lost money by buying these coupon books?

 

Kelly:  Yes, exactly. There was a quote from one of the board members that summed it up. “The board spent about $350,000 on the grandstand and then we had to sell it off to pay off our debts.”

 

Bartels:  Apparently they did just that, right, Norm?

 

Kelly: Yes, another member told a reporter, “Keeping Expo going was not always a bed of roses.”  One typical complaint letter summed it up way back in 1957.

“I think the people of Peoria have been given another raw deal. What should we do with these coupons we purchased and will never be able to use?”  So, like the man said, it was not always a bed of roses.

 

Bartels:  Norm, was there a time when some members thought of selling the place, you know, just giving up?

 

Kelly:  Good question, that’s why you are asking the questions and not me.

On December 17, 1953 officials from Exposition Gardens made a somewhat startling offer to the Peoria Park District.

 

Bartels:  I bet they wanted to sell it and let the Park District turn it into a park…right?

 

Kelly:  Now that’s pretty close to the truth you are really good at this game, DeWayne. They offered Exposition Gardens to the Peoria Park District for the grand cost of nothing, not one dime.

 

Bartels:  Now how on earth would that help the Expo group?

 

Kelly:  They wanted to make sure that Exposition Gardens would survive so they had to make this drastic move.  Of course the park district would have to pay…I mean there’s always a catch when something is free.

 

Bartels:   I thought so…you mean they just wanted the district to take it over…with strings…of course?

 

Kelly:  Precisely.  The Expo people wanted the park district to pay off the $60,000.00 they owed, finish building the Youth Building and Expo would keep the rights to the Heart of Illinois Fair.

 

Bartels:  How much to finish off the Youth Center?

 

Kelly: Just a mere $25,000.00 or so.

 

Bartels: I got a feeling that they did not buy the deal…true?

 

Kelly:  True.  They didn’t make up their minds right then…but in the end the deal did not go through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                          *********

          DeWayne….have no idea what that white box is or why I cannot

          Close this gap….Norm *******

 

 

 

Bartels:  But still, Norm here we are in 2010 and Expo is still here.  Looks like she made it after all.

Kelly:    DeWayne, you know I am a Peoria historian in connection with the years 1845 through 1950 so what has been going on here today or for the last five decades is beyond my research and knowledge.  Do you remember a building right over there towards Richwoods High School that used to be here?

 

Bartels:  Didn’t it have something to do with the Army?

 

Kelly:  Yes, on 9-17-1959 the United States Army Reserve Center was dedicated and was used by the army reserves.  They used to drill there, muster, you know, army things. They had a bunch of army equipment parked around it.  It has since been demolished.

 

Bartels:  So, the government must have paid for that land, you think?

 

Kelly: I feel certain they did, but it did not interest me enough to look into it. There was a suicide over there and I thought of writing about that but changed my mind. If Uncle Sam paid money out it must have helped the Expo cause financially.

 

Bartels:  Well, once the Heart Of Illinois Fair established itself here I would imagine that things got a bit better off financially.

 

Kelly: I imagine that the fair coming here saved Exposition Gardens, but that’s just my guess. I live in Rolling Acres and have walked my dogs up here since 1964 and I can tell you that this is a very busy place.  They have all kinds of events from swap shops to rabbit and cat shows and plenty in between.  The big sign says Exposition Gardens and it is the home of the Heart of Illinois Fair. So long may she live.

 

Bartels:  Norm we all know that the fair had some very famous entertainers here and they used the grandstand.  How could that be if Richwoods owned it?

 

Kelly:  I’d say it was smart managers on the board is the answer to that question.  As I mentioned Expo was offered to the Peoria Park District but they wisely turned it down.  When it was sold to make way for the school a deal was included to allow the Heart Of Illinois fair to use the stadium during the fair run.  Smart and farsighted I’d say.

 

Bartels:  Indeed it was. Was there a time when it looked like Expo was going to fail?

 

Kelly:  I’m no expert…just a reader of history about Peoria, but I would have to say yes to that question. Just think of this as many as ten board members signed notes to keep the place financially sound.  Now how many communities have men like that that would stake their very own financial well being on a community project? These men gave of their time, their money, expertise and plain old hard labor to keep this place going.  It is an amazing piece of Peoria history and the dedication of those Peorians who would not allow the project to fail is phenomenal. Exposition Gardens should be the site of a memorial to these founders.

 

Bartels:  So the names of all those original members are all available and I bet you know who they were…right?

 

Kelly: They are and I do. What amazes me is that a dream that started in 1943 not only was carried out then, but men that came along after the founders managed to perpetuate that dream and keep this place going.  I said men, but I meant those Peorians and the other men and women from other counties that dedicated themselves to this most worthy project.

 

Bartels:  I bet you know how much dirt they moved, huh?

 

Kelly:  I have no idea what this means but people who kept track of such things said that the workers and the machines moved 250,000 cubic yards.

I guess that’s a lot, but I really have no idea. I know they flattened the place, that’s for sure.

 

Bartels: I wonder how General Wheeler got into this earth moving show?

 

Kelly:  Well, he was a pretty famous guy…and yes…you guessed it he was a native Peorian.  In my book it has always been who you know, if you get my meaning?

 

Bartels:  I do. So Norm they worked forty hours and then they were finished?

 

Kelly:  Yes, with the earthmoving phase.  They had a party for everyone that participated, and the next day of course there were stories in all of the newspapers.

 

Bartels:  So after that the building of the stadium began, they sold that and some acreage and then what?

 

Kelly:   They paid off their debts and began to build the buildings that you see over there on the left.  Now they have the tractor pull building, the Opera House and the smaller buildings for the fair contestants.  They have that brick building there and that is used a lot and currently houses the office manager.  Here is a museum, farm implements and things like that. Most Peorians only come here for the fair, but as I mentioned they have a lot of events going on up here all year long so plenty of folks use it year round.

 

Bartels:  Great story Norm.  What do you see in the future for Expo Gardens?

Kelly:  I wonder when the time comes to up grade this place, to give this 62 year-old-lady a new outfit what will happen?  Will the Peorians of this generation pitch in and help?  Of course I have no idea what kind of financial condition she is in, so maybe the question is moot.

 

Bartels:  Well, it will be interesting to see what happens.  Thanks for sharing the story, Norm.

 

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