After years of inattention, state parks getting maintenance

DIXON SPRINGS, Ill. (AP) - Parks around Illinois are seeing a flurry of maintenance activity after years of inattention due to a state budget standoff.

An indication of the sprucing up of Illinois' parks is at the Dixon Springs State Park swimming pool in southern Illinois, which has received a new slide.

Site superintendent Chris McGinness tells the Southern Illinoisan the pool dates to the 1940s. It was redone in the 1980s, and the slide replaced this year was about 40 years old.

The roughly $175,000 pool renovation project included upgrades to the chemical monitoring system.

Beyond the pool area, cabins and barracks in the park have been refurbished, along with a kitchen and dining hall. Workers have repaired 50 picnic tables.

McGinness says every picnic table in Dixon Springs is expected to be redone.

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Information from: Southern Illinoisan, http://www.southernillinoisan.com