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Rockton-Roscoe News: Tuesday, Aug. 5 2025

Painting over the Roscoe mural, National Night Out, Wednesday's Village agenda

Michael McGinnis

Aug 5, 2025 — 5 min read

In 2022 Forest City Gear and others were going to join the Village of Roscoe in paying for a mural on Roscoe's Main Street. Now, putting it tactfully, the Village Board says it plans to "return the Masonic Lodge wall to its original color."

Today's news from Rockton, Roscoe and South Beloit - from the staff of Rockton-Roscoe News - including recent deaths in far northern Illinois. Reply to this email to send us your comments, questions, or compliments.

The Village of Roscoe board has decided to spend $3,600 to paint over the mural on the north wall of the Masonic Lodge on Main Street. Trustee Mike Wright says, “There needs to be board approval but preliminary plans are to change to a new mural design.” In 2022, the Village of Roscoe was going to pay $15,000 of the $30,000 project cost, with the rest to be contributed by private donors. Trustees had chosen from three design options, but many citizens criticized the final result as too dark. Though many residents say they couldn't tell what it was, it shows an aerial view of the Roscoe area and the Rock River. In the end, no one at the Village collected the private donations, so the Village ended up paying the full cost. (A previous version of this paragraph left off that part. We regret the error.)
Tonight is National Night Out in Roscoe and South Beloit. To accommodate it, the Village of Roscoe board meeting has been moved from Tuesday to Wednesday. (A previous version failed to mention that. We regret the error.) In a related note, Rockton-Roscoe News is looking for sharp, young reporters who make fewer errors in late night stories.
At Wednesday's meeting, Roscoe trustees are also expected to approve paying Hasting Asphalt Services $9,819.70 to resurface the courts at Leland Park and to purchase $5,373.25 worth of culverts from Metal Culverts Inc. for road projects. The Village of Roscoe welcomes two new staff members: Administrative Assistant Emma Clausen and Zoning Consultant Hilary Rottmann (part of Vandewalle & Associates).

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