Kaskaskia College held a dedication ceremony and ribbon cutting naming the former Animal Disease Laboratory the John D. Cavaletto Agricultural Center.
Cavaletto was able to obtain the building that was vacant following the closure of the Animal Disease Laboratory from the state for the college’s use for $1.
State Representative Charlie Meier recalled Cavaletto’s determination on the project.
“He changed the direction and the way things are going. The other lab that was closed in northern Illinois sits there and is used for a little bit of storage and that’s all. It’s not maintained. Look at the building we have here for the students of Kaskaskia College because of you, John.”
A number of other current and retired state legislators joined in the praise for Cavaletto.
Kaskaskia College Board Chair Bill Hawley is longtime friends with Cavaletto.
“We are very fortunate that he won, we are very fortunate that he had the foresight, and it took about what, three or four years from the time he first started talking about this building coming to Kaskaskia College,” Hawley said. “I know they were using the other one for storage, and that’s what they were using this for. When we walked into it, it was not in very good shape. He not only helped out the taxpayers of the state of Illinois, but he did a great service for Kaskaskia College.”
College President George Evans says the dedication is long overdue for what Cavaletto did for the college.
“It’s meant a ton,” Evans said. “You go from two classrooms that are approximately 20 by 40 to giving this building to giving this building to for the most part an ag program that now has 40,000 square feet to grow in. You heard the testimonies of the students tonight; they have done just that. We do have strong plans in the future for some future collaborations for the ag program that I don’t want to announce just yet, but there are some really good seeds planted to expand those offerings for the KC District and beyond.”
Cavaletto was surprised to see so many old friends and called the deal one of the highlights of his legislative career.
“I can remember walking into it when they were closing it, and the junk that was all over the place in every room and every corner, and waste cans turned over,” Cavaletto said. “It was something that I think I wanted to throw a match to it and let it go, but I had a guy said, ‘we’ll take care of this.’ They worked on it for months and months and finally got it to where it is today. It’s a good facility for our kids and the agriculture people in the area and they use it a lot. We felt like it was one of our great accomplishments in savings, to save a building.”
After the ceremony, everyone moved outside for a ribbon cutting to dedicate the building.
