Site Plan Approved for John Boos Wood Plant

The Effingham City Plan Commission Tuesday gave approval to a site plan for the John Boos and Company wood plant to be located south of Effingham.

The wood plant, now located on Fayette Avenue, will be relocated to the new site at 3701 South Banker, directly south across Thies Avenue from the company's metal plant. 

John Boos President Joe Emmerich said after the meeting that information on a groundbreaking will be released soon. Emmerich said they want to inform company employees of the plans before they are shared with the general public. He said there are still a "couple of hoops to jump through" before the relocation can begin.

The company will be constructing a 122,000 square foot building to accommodate the wood plant operation.

The Plan Commission also recommended approval of a preliminary and final plat for Kaufmann Subdivision. The development involves Lee Kaufmann's Snap On Tools operation along the north side of US Route 40 east between Effingham and Teutopolis, as well as a lot to the west of that property and a lot to the north of that lot. The lot west of Snap On was most recently used by Versatech before their relocation to the Effingham Business Park, and the lot to the north is utilized by South Central FS.

Lee Kaufmann said the plan is to develop the lot at 1406 East Fayette for the sale of modular homes produced by Clayton Homes. The project might pull at the heartstrings of longtimers in the Effingham community as it could involve demolition of the old projection building and concession stand for the drive-in movie theater that once stood there.

The Plan Commission voted to recommend the City Council rezone the subject property from general commercial district to light industrial district to accommodate the project.