THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS-GAZETTE STORY BY JENNIFER BAILEY
ABOVE: Diane Dawson, treasurer of the Elwood District Carnegie Library, is shown at the restored front desk, at the library along Illinois 1 in Ridge Farm. (Jennifer Bailey/The News Gazette)
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is 10th in our 12-story road-trip series looking at the people and places along Illinois 1 — from Watseka to Paris.
RIDGE FARM — A few years ago, the Elwood District Carnegie Library was in pretty bad shape and its future was uncertain.
Jennie Sollars, current president of the library’s board, and her mother, Diane Dawson, who serves as treasurer, were among those tasked with saving the building.
“It hadn’t been maintained in 50 years,” Dawson said, adding that the only things that had been done included the ceilings in 2005 and some repairs to the roof in the 1970s.
To tackle all the needed projects, repairs and remodeling started in December 2023.
“It’s been gutted; this whole floor has been done. Just last year we remodeled,” Dawson said.
FOR MORE FROM THIS STORY PLEASE GO TO https://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/community-events/having-fun-on-illinois-1-ridge-farm-library-growing-again-for-future-generations/article_046f913e-2033-42b0-afce-e128774c8e07.html
