Way to go Orr. That is our money being wasted to restore the building. Pigeons can use the railroad bridge over the river to crap on instead of this old building. Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, said he "expects the project to improve quality of life as well as promote commercial growth." How on earth will spending 1.2 million on this building improve anyones "quality of life." Who could care less about the old depot? Pork, Pork, Pork. It's O.K. Our kids and Grandkids will be paying for this. Just think, there will be hundreds of these projects going on across the state. It is not like we have the money burning a hole in our pocket. China loves it.

I noticed the picture in this article is the only side of the building that has no graffiti on it. Once this structure is complete, I'm sure the graffiti will return.

The quality of life improvements are real and welcome. Every fleck of paint removed, every nail driven, every roof repaired, and every shrub planted is another paycheck for someone to buy this week's groceries. And in the end, these labors will bring an historic building back to life and make the downtown a more pleasant place to spend time and money. Thanks to all who are working to make this possible.

I strongly believe that history needs to be preserved.

America is young and does not yet appreciate it's past like the Euro countries that I have lived in; for instance Germany's castles, schlosses and other structures were bombed to rubble, yet they rebuilt them to preserve the centuries old history.

Once history is destroyed or lost, it is very hard to resurrect.