ABOVE: A look at the property northwest of North Vermilion and Devonshire that had been approved for a True Grit Fitness.
The project has been abandoned, but two sides of the story remain. Last November; Matt Stines, owner of the True Grit Fitness in Tilton off Georgetown Road, received approval from the Danville City Council to build another True Grit northwest of North Vermilion and Devonshire. Unlike the one in Tilton, this True Grit would focus on training for travel baseball players, with batting cages and pitching lanes.
But after some preliminary construction began, the city stepped in and stopped it, saying Stines and developer Paul Offutt had not taken care of the preliminary requirements, including getting a soil erosion permit from the Illinois EPA. But Offutt says even when that was recently obtained, the city still did not want to work nor communicate with them. And therefore, the project is being abandoned, with plans to add the baseball training items to the already open True Grit Fitness in Tilton.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: A month or two ago we actually received an EPA permit from the state to move forward with it. And so every time we’d come up with satisfying everything that the city wanted, we’d get another new direction and new rules.
But Danville mayor Rickey Williams, Jr says Offutt is leaving a couple things out. One, the required stamp plans were never provided, from the developer to the city engineers. And two, until all the requirements were taken care of, no preliminary building should have begun at all.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: Everything from hvac, to plumbing, to water, to electricity. All of those things; they have to be submitted to our community development department. In today’s day and age, who begins a project without having all the proper permits and authority authorizations in place, except for Mr. Offutt?
Offutt says they are moving Hines’ latest True Grit idea down to Tilton because there are; quote, “no hassles, no ghosts, and no hidden agendas.” He says once the nearby by Parkway Cannabis Dispensary opens soon, that will also provide additional parking.
Mayor Williams says it’s too bad such a great idea for this True Grit Fitness could not work out in Danville. Williams also mentioned that Offutt owns the property at North Vermilion and Devonshire, and stated that the process of code enforcement has been started.
Mayor Williams is hoping Danville can find a new partner for the Head Start child care location at 1001 E. Voorhees.
Staying with the category on things that haven’t worked out, last week Neuhoff Media spoke with former Danville Head Start program director Donny Gill; who had resigned, citing extreme difficulties working with CDI out of Colorado, who took over Danville’s Head Start in March of 2022. Mayor Williams says CDI was supposed to make things better at the child care facility to serve the most vulnerable children; but instead, seems to have made things worse.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: The interesting thing is the city has no official role in this whatsoever. But because it is so important to our community, we are assisting in trying to find a reliable partner.
Mayor Williams says the city will be exploring a wide variety of avenues to assist Head Start in the search for a new partner for Danville’s location.
