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Quincy gets back to normal after Obama visit
Posted: 04.29.2010 at 4:41 PM
Melissa Shriver

Melissa Shriver is a News Anchor and Reporter for KHQA.

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QUINCY, ILL. -- Quincy Mayor John Spring says Wednesday's presidential visit to the Gem City couldn't have gone smoother.

City departments are getting back to normal after a busy couple of days preparing for the President's visit to Quincy.

Most departments were directly affected by the visit, and the city expects around $20 thousand in expenses associated with overtime and other costs.

But on the other hand the President's visit meant a boom for many area businesses.  Hotels on the east side of Quincy were full to the brim with secret service agents and the president's advance team.  In fact Holly Cain with the Quincy Convention and Visitor's Bureau tells KHQA more than 700 rooms were booked during mid-week...a boom for the hotel industry.

That brought the city at least seven thousand dollars in hotel-motel taxes alone.

Restaurants also saw an increase in businesses thanks to these temporary residents and visitors who came to see the President.

Mayor Spring says it's just an honor the President chose to visit the Tri-States.

Mayor John Spring said, "The community put its best foot forward with the red carpet all the way. It was just a great experience. Plus all those I got to talk to that had never been here had such a great experience, that they said they want to come back when they aren't on any sort of detail."

According to statistics from the Quincy Convention and Visitor's Bureau, each person who stays in Quincy spends about 150 dollars per day on food and lodging.

More than 24 hundred people turned out to greet the President at the Oakley Lindsay Center Wednesday. A day later, the building is empty, with crews working to clean up and reset event rooms for weekend weddings and church services.

Executive Director Rob Ebbing tells KHQA the President's visit went smoothly with no problems, even after having less than three days notice before the President's arrival.

But he says his staff worked long hours to make the visit a success.

Rob Ebbing said, "It was a unique experience for our staff to see how White House staff and the Secret Service do their jobs. They tell us that for them it's like a puzzle. They always have the same pieces but they fit together differently from venue to venue and city to city. They had the regiment down but for us it was our first time working with them."

The Oakley Lindsay Center did not receive money for the use of the facility for the large event. But Ebbing says even with the added costs and expenses of hosting the event, it was worth it to bring the President to town. He says the costs will have to be made up somewhere else in his budget.

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