[CPEO-MEF] REUSE: Chanute Air Force Base (IL) closure had ripple effect

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Chanute series part four of five: For area towns around Rantoul, closure of base had a RIPPLE EFFECT

by Dave Hinton
Rantoul Press (IL)
October 22, 2013

Thomasboro Mayor Bradley Morris remembers a time when his community was growing.

“It seemed like every three-four years they were putting in a new street,” Morris said.

And then Chanute Air Force Base closed. It was Sept. 30, 1993, and the growth went the other way. Thomasboro, which was home to a number of civilian employees of the base and some military, has shrunk since then. In 1990, census figures showed a population of 1,250 in Thomasboro. That number had fallen to 1,126 in 2010.

Like Thomasboro, located south of Rantoul, Ludlow, which is north, was also hit hard by the base’s closure. But it was a different sort of change. With a population of 371 in 2010, Ludlow has actually grown from the 323 residents who lived there in 1990. The difference has been in the make-up of the town. And it hasn’t been for the better, Mayor Pete Walker said.

…

For the entire article, see
http://www.rantoulpress.com/news/special-reports/2013-10-22/chanute-series-part-four-five-area-towns-around-rantoul-closure-base

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Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope Street
Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650-961-8918 or 650-969-1545
Fax: 650-961-8918
LSiegel@cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org




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