THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS-GAZETTE STORY BY JENNIFER BAILEY
ABOVE: Baylee Estes, Colleen’s daughter, who worked with Colleen on the events center. (Provided)
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is second in our 12-story road-trip series looking at the people and places along Illinois 1 — from Watseka to Paris.
MILFORD — Saving downtown buildings from the wrecking ball off Illinois 1 in Milford and along the well-traveled route in Rossville is turning out to be Colleen Caldwell’s superpower.
Starting when she was a child, Caldwell had a fascination with old houses and buildings, from watching “This Old House.”
“It made me think I could do anything,” she said.
In his offseason, her farmer father would work on construction projects and build furniture. She built her first bed at age 20.
Caldwell cares about saving old downtown buildings near where she grew up in rural Wellington. Buying one led to owning six in Milford and four in Rossville, where she now lives and is building a new home in the country.
“I keep everything along Route 1,” Caldwell said with a laugh.
FOR MORE FROM THIS STORY PLEASE GO TO https://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/people/having-fun-on-illinois-1-meet-milfords-building-fixer-upper/article_c0a59f7b-01bb-4ab3-8172-edd19d907e5e.html
