1919 Staley Pump House in Decatur, IL

If you are here because you followed a link concerning an IC bridge, then you need to go

here.

This post was redundant, and it has been "recycled."

(3D Satellite)

Hearald-Review Photo Gallery
[When it was built in 1919, there must have already been plans made to build the Lake Decatur Dam because the lower part is obviously designed to accommodate being flooded.]

This pump house was built in 1919 to provide water for the A. E. Staley Manufacturing Co. Google Maps shows the plant is now owned by ADM Bioproducts. When built, the first floor was the pump house and the second floor was a "clubhouse." It hosted weddings, dances and parties from the 1920s to the 1980s."  [Hearald-Review-tour, photo caption] But Tate & Lyle, who obtained ownership of the pump house when they bought A. E. Staley, has not used the building. They now claim it is rotten enough that they need to tear it down. But they have to pay for the remediation of asbestos and lead paint even if they tear it down. So why not restore an event space to an event space? Bret Robertson has asked the same question. But his efforts to try to save it are being dismissed by the mayor as well as Tate & Lyle.

I wonder were attendees for the clubhouse events in the past parked. I noticed on a satellite image that the building seems to be isolated, and that is one of the arguments given for not saving it. (Mar 2024 Update: a comment explains that US-36 used to be just two lanes and their was a parking lot next to the road. When I accessed the satellite link below, it appears that the pump house is gone.)

Once again, I save a satellite image while I can still get one.

Satellite

Satellite

John Stokes posted eighteen photos with the comment: "Lake Decatur Illinois."

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[I thought this photo was redundant, but then I noticed the birds flying away.]

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Street View