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ALTON – There hasn’t been a lot to celebrate in recent days in Downtown Alton, but Alton Mayor Brant Walker, Public Works Director Bob Barnhart, and his staff took a moment Wednesday to take a photo for the memory books in front of the main wall by Morrison’s Irish Pub.
Both Mayor Walker and Barnhart said they couldn’t say enough about the personnel and their efforts to maintain the flood wall and keep Downtown Alton intact through the second highest flood crest in history at 39.1 feet, just below the 42.7 feet in 1993.
“Bob Barnhart and his staff have been absolutely incredible,” Mayor Walker said. “The crews worked 12-hour shifts around the clock since the flood started. When things got really bad, they were very beyond great with their efforts.”
Barnhart agreed that he couldn’t say enough about the personnel.
Barnhart said he wanted to gather everyone together for a final photo after six weeks of diligent work to protect the City of Alton businesses.
“Today, we are completing our last shift on the wall and pulling substantially most of the people off here,” Barnhart said. “Our maintenance crews will be checking on stormwater. We believe State Street in Alton will be open by Friday evening and the wall will remain on the deep end of Broadway until we are certain we are done with the changing forecast and rising waters. Hopefully, by the middle of next week, we will have the wall removed and the area cleaned up again.”
Chris Rhodes also contributed to this story.
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