Sangamon
County Rifle Association
Right Reason on Second Amendment Rights
Springfield, Illinois
Right Reason on Second Amendment Rights
Springfield, Illinois
| |
Sangamon
County Rifle Association
Right Reason on Second Amendment Rights Springfield, Illinois |
SC |
 Korean War Museum's possible move from Rantoul to the Oak Ridge Cemetery outside Springfield Tom Shafer SCRA Meeting, February 6, 2006 March 2006 GunNews
Shafer discussed the Korean War museum's possible move from Rantoul to the Oak Ridge Cemetery outside Springfield. The National Korean War Museum is currently located in Rantoul, Illinois in the closed Chanute Air Force Base. Shafer has been in contact with several people who were instrumental in raising the money to design, build and construct the Korean Veterans Memorial in Oak Ridge Cemetery. These guys have been in contact with the people who own, run and maintain the National Korean War Museum in Rantoul. It's dying over in Rantoul. Their yearly attendance last year was less than five people a day. They had less than 3500 people visit all of last year. The National Korean War Museum is a wonderful facility with wonderful exhibits. The people who operate it have come to the conclusion they are simply cannot maintain their facility in Rantoul. It's just not doable, its just not a viable option. They can't sell anything, they can't get door fees and nobody gets to see all of these wonderful exhibits. They're moving. This is where Springfield comes in. We're on the short list with three other cities. They want to move somewhere. Shafer thinks we should institute, launch and follow through with a coordinated campaign to contact our local lawmakers, the chamber of commerce, our veterans organizations, the VFW posts in Springfield to urge them to to help lobby for the move to Springfield. Our group should add its voice to a lot of other peoples to move this facility here. Right across from Oak Ridge Cemetery where we just put in the World War II memorial seems a great location. With the coming addition to the World War II memorial and combined with the Korean Veterans memorial and the Vietnam Veterans memorial, it is a wonderful historic area. It's really drawing a lot of people. Right across the street is a beautiful strip of land that is available. So Shafer wants to start up a lobbying campaign and coordinate it with Jim Butler that we should urge Rantoul to bring that Museum here to Springfield. It is a wonderful facility and it has win, win written all over it. Everybody would jump on this as they already have and those who have heard about it say why did they ever go there in the first place? Shafer believes we need calls and letters to the wonderful political network in Springfield, the VFW, the politicians local and state, being the capitol city, and the opening of the brand new presidential library and museum. If we call them and tell them and say, tell these Rantoul guys to move this thing here. They still have a little money left. They're going to have to move all the exhibits and build a building and go a little bit further in debt. But remember Carl Greenwood, Walter Ade, Don Fritcher, Shafer, Jim Butler, Rocky Schoenrock and the Korean Veterans groups raised a ton of money to get the Korean Veterans Memorial built. Shafer says they're not done raising money. They would get some tax abatements from the city, they would agree to that. In fact Shafer says he has already been in contact with the Springfield Chamber of Commerce in downtown Springfield and they're on board with this one hundred percent. They said they would love to have this facility. The Mayor is getting behind this. Who could possibly not like the Korean veterans groups and a facility like this to honor them and to remember what's really a forgotten war. Shafer says the war was forgotten for a long long time, outrageously so. This could be the start of a National Museum to be here and to never forget them again. Shafer said this is for us, it should have always been for us. Shafer said he lobbied, he cajoled and he harranged that they should put it here to begin with but they were adamant about the financial stuff of it but you can't have financial stuff if you don't have visitors. You've got to have people come in through the door looking at your stuff, buying your gifts, paying at the door, giving donations, putting in memorial bricks like they did at the Korean Veterans Memorial and the World War II memorial. That's the lifeblood that keeps your facility afloat. Shafer said he is going to be in touch with our local State Senator and Representatives to say you realize that National Korean War Museum is moving and we had better get it here to Springfield before they pick somewhere else because the cities with these tax abatements, TIF districts and all these tax abatements and incentives they can give everybody else should certainly be given to this group here who is more than worthy for what they have already done. Shafer doesn't hold it a bit against them that they chose Rantoul. They did the best they could with a site they thought would be viable. They were in error there but its not the worst mistake they ever made in their life and it can be corrected. If they put in in Springfield with all the other things Springfield has to offer, actually a renaissance going on right now, this thing would work. It would not only be helpful to them as Shafer is determined to be, but it would make our group look good as well. It would be on the side of something that brings a tangible, lasting benefit for a long, long time. Shafer also gave a talk on the history and current usage of the Pittman-Robertson Tax. We'll run that next month as a separate article -- ed. From the Capitol Index Return to SCRA Home Page |