BEST GOOD DEED

The Nolls buy the Lincoln Depot

A year ago, the Great Western Depot where Abraham Lincoln bade farewell to Springfield after being elected president was in limbo. The State Journal-Register, which owned the building next to the paper’s offices, wouldn’t say what it planned to do with the depot which, despite its obvious historic value, is not on any kind of historic registry to ensure preservation. The National Park Service, which had staffed the building but could no longer do so because it wasn’t accessible to the disabled as required by federal regulations, had asked the paper about taking steps to ensure future public access but heard only crickets. Enter Jon and Pinky Noll, a Springfield couple with a love of history and the means to preserve it. Like caped crusaders, the couple swooped in as soon as the newspaper announced it was looking for a buyer, and they have vowed to keep the building’s first floor open to the public. Jon Noll and his son Daniel plan to move their law practice into the depot’s second floor early next year. They’ll be conducting business spitting distance from the busiest railroad tracks in the city with no shortage of ear-splitting horns that sound every time a train passes by. Financially, there is no way this deal could possibly pencil out, and the Nolls, who live in a mansion built at the turn of the 20th century by Gov. Richard Yates, knew that full well when they made the commitment to keep Lincoln’s legacy alive. Thank you.