FEDERAL GRANT

A loan of $86,000 to the village of Gorham, Jackson County, near the southern tip of Illinois, for the construction of a waterworks system, was approved today by Commissioner John C. Hazeltine of the Community Facilities Administration. The loan is contingent on the inability of the applicant to obtain private financing at reasonable terms.

Gorham, with a population of 500 persons, was in the path of the tornado of last December 18 when out of a total of 133 residences 36 were totally destroyed and 45 were heavily damaged. The villagers have announced their determination to rebuild. Most of them are employed on the Missouri Pacific Railroad or in Murphysboro factories, ten miles away.

The present water supply is obtained from shallow wells which fail during protracted dry periods and the water is reported to be unsafe and of poor quality. The proposed project consists of a supply well, treatment facilities for iron removal, chlorina-tion equipment, well and high lift pumps and a 40, 000-gallon elevated storage tank.

Page 102 / Illinois Municipal Review / May 1958