The Friends of Vishnu are acting in good faith to do the best we can to support the Ira and Reath T. Post Wildlife Sanctuary - aka Vishnu Springs. The site is owned by the WIU Foundation and they have the final say-so on what happens on the grounds. While it may seem that the monies donated at the last two open houses have not been utilized to help redo the hotel, that is not entirely true. Our mission is to help maintain and preserve the hotel AND ground surrounding the hotel. In order to rehab the hotel, it is going to take a LOT more money than what has been raised at the open houses. The Friends have done a great job of educating the public on what Vishnu was/is/hopes to be in the future and in obtaining access to the site so that people can come and visit it.
Yes the site is a wildlife sanctuary, which was the original wish of the donor. Yes, several university departments have and are using the site for different kinds of scientific studies, but those studies are being done with their funds, not fund raised at the open houses.
The Friends have worked with the caretaker to keep the hotel boarded up so that vandals can't get in and destroy the hotel anymore than it already is. If you come to the open house, you will see what vandals have done to it already.
And most importantly, yes it is a historic site in the county. But, again it is going to take a big sum of money and university support to restore or refurbish the site.
I hope that this has answered some of the questions posed here. I have tried to answer each posting and/or email which has been sent to this site since it was started. Currently I am away from the internet and only checking it every four or five days - so if you have other questions I can try to answer or find an answer to, I'll do so next time I'm on the internet.
Otherwise, we hope to see you on the 16th or October.
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