EDWARDSVILLE - Mayor Hal Patton addressed the upcoming Illinois Bicentennial at Tuesday night's Edwardsville City Council meeting saying the city will be setting aside 200 acres of green space in honor of the event.
"We are actually going to celebrate the Illinois 200-year anniversary in city of Edwardsville by conducting a green-space acquisition campaign with a goal of incorporating 200 acres of green space into the city over the next year to year and a half," Mayor Patton said.
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The green space acquisition would include preserving some wooded areas as well, to allow children to experience nature in the same way that many of their parents in the community have.
"Preserve some natural woods, some creek areas, so that future generations get to enjoy a community like many of us grew up in, where we could walk to the woods, run, play, climb trees and get dirty," Mayor Patton said.
Mayor Patton said the idea was brought forward by Alderman S.J. Morrison and rather than celebrating the bicentennial with a party, it's best to look at the future.
"We thought it would be most important to look forward and give something for future generations to enjoy," Mayor Patton said.
With the end of the year approaching Mayor Patton concluded Tuesday's council meeting thanking everyone for a wonderful year and said it's important to look at the community in general and be thankful.
"The last two weekends I participated in fundraisers," Mayor Patton said. "It's just so impressive to go to those events and see the generosity and caring that this community shows. I much prefer focusing on it than turning on the national news and observing the negativity there. We have a lot to be thankful."
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