Citizens of Kewanee recently inspected their renovated municipal building at an open house held by city officials. The building was completely remodeled at a cost of approximately $68,000. As a result of tornado damage to the old structure, the cost of the construction was covered by insurance money. Highlights of the evening included presentation of the deed to the city hall site to the city by the Burlington Railroad and an address by Mayor Paul Johnson of Moline. Pictured above [here, to the right], left to right: E. F. Landbeck, Mayor J. Campbell Andrews (in back), Commissioner Milton S. Hamilton; E. L. Potarf, general manager of the CB&Q; Mayor Paul Johnson, Moline; Mrs. Nellie E. Hall, City Clerk; Commissioner Harold W. Hill and Commissioner Vernon O. Hainline.

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The second Illinois Valley Air Pollution Conference was held in Peoria, Illinois on October 35, 1956. Sponsored by the Peoria Association of Commerce, the one day session featured talks on Federal Activities in the air pollution field, local enforcement of the air pollution control ordinance, and developments in the fields of incineration, instrumentation for measurement of air pollution and solid fuel handling.

About 140 persons attended the Conference including city officials from Springfield, Trenton, Moline, Bloomington, Chicago, Lincoln, Peoria and Peoria Heights, Illinois and Burlington, Iowa. Copies of the instruction sheets for firing various types of coal-burning equipment and other material on the general air-pollution problem may be obtained for postage charges only from Jacob Dumelle, Director of Inspections, City Hall, Peoria, Illinois.

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Eight southern cities are successfully preserving areas of special historic interest, and most recently Boston has followed suit in the Beacon Hill district. John Codman, in a booklet published by the American Society of Planning Officials, "Preservation of Historic Districts by Architectural Control," describes the campaign of the Beacon Hill Civic Association to get an architectural control law to preserve this district.

In general, architectural control laws set boundaries and require that no alterations be made to the exterior of buildings, new buildings constructed, or signs or other external features changed or added

within the area unless approved by a committee appointed for that purpose. Often these provisions have been included in the zoning ordinance.

One of the first moves on the part of the civic association was to find out how such laws worked elsewhere. Questionnaires were sent to representatives of the Chamber of Commerce, the Real Estate Board, the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and the city official responsible for enforcement of the law in Charleston, S. C, New Orleans, La., Alexandria and Williamsburg, Va., Winston-Salem, N. C, Georgetown, D. C, Natchez, Miss., and Annapolis, Md.

Results of the survey strongly encouraged the Beacon Hill group to proceed with its project. Asked to state briefly how the law had worked in their communities, all respondents gave favorable answers, ranging from excellent to fair. All answered that the law had been beneficial to the area involved or to the city as a whole. Architecture had been improved, they said, and civic pride had been increased.

In general, the society records, it was believed that real estate values, both for residential properties and for businesses, had been either stabilized or increased as a direct result of the laws. Most said that the regulation had not been detrimental in any way. What opposition there was came mostly from a few merchants who wanted to "go modern" with such items as garish signs.

Word from Annapolis and Charleston indicated that force in maintaining the ordinances was undesirable, public opinion and voluntary acceptance being the best means to get cooperation.