The FIRST NATIONAL BANK of SPARTA

Back in the days when southwest Illinois was abuzz with the news of the opening of the World Shooting and Recreational Complex, there was a great deal of excitement about what the world class development would mean to the local economy. It was predicted that local infrastructure, family businesses and larger, more well known regional and national chains would benefit significantly from the influx of tourist dollars and the accompanying increases in revenue.

I have a serious question that I would like to put in front of the members of Americantrapshooters.com and the much larger family of shotgun sportsmen.

When it was decided that the new home of the Trapshooting Hall of Fame was going to be built at The World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta, Illinois, why weren't the construction funds needed by the THOF Board of Trustees to build the building borrowed from The FIRST NATIONAL BANK of SPARTA, a well respected local institution, rather than an obscure bank in Norfolk, Nebraska, the hometown of the chairman of the THOF trustees?

 

umm let me think about this. could it be Bradford doesn't have a " buddy" or any " pals" or " family" in the local Sparta bank.

 

First of all. Did the bank pay the invoices as they came in or did they just hand over the funds to the H.O.F. committee? If an audit is ever taken, the bank would have a list of all contractors. It seems a little curious that the banking business was not awarded to the local establishment. Was the bank aware the the H.O.F. was not going to be the owner of the building? If not, WHY NOT. It seems that every thing the EC and past EC members touch has hidden agendas attached to the deals. This leads to many not trusting them to be open with the membership.When deals are hidden, it leads to mistrust.
secret meetings, misstated entries in the recorded minutes, non recorded items in the minutes all lead to no trust in the leadership. This organization has been turned into a cluster hump, sad but true. Roger C.

 

Maybe the FIRST NATIONAL BANK of SPARTA was aware of the economy in thier area and did not care to take on a failing venture in a building that the state of graf infected Illinois owned and made to made by a graft infected origination such as the ATA

 

All banks have legal lending limits.

Maybe the WSRC construction loan was over First National Bank of Sparta`s lending limits.

 

Gold Medal, Smilling Sam can make the loan that was needed. I'm sure the bank in Sparta has the ASSETS TO COVER THE LOAN. ccridr, probably has the best explanation. Roger C.

 

Roger makes very good points.

If a borrower takes out a construction loan from a bank, the funds are not given to the borrower on the first day of construction. Payments for work completed are advanced using a system known as the Construction Loan DRAW Process. A draw request is used to make incremental payments to the contractor or sub-contractor when they have completed a portion of the general contract. The lender has the right to inspect the project to determine the various degrees of completion. Lenders never let contractors "get ahead of the bank" by requesting payments for work not completed. Banks are very savvy at making sure that their investments are secure. They monitor for potential fraud on a moment to moment basis.

What if..., and this is just a "what if," the Trustees did not want their project to come under the constant scrutiny of a "real bank." What if they wanted more room, or shall we say, more latitude for using the construction funds for purposes other than construction? Remember back. History Buff showed us that the construction funds were secured by various ATA and THOF "assets." What that means is that nobody had to fill out a "financial statement." With no disclosure and no regulatory constraints, The Trustees were at liberty to do as they pleased.

Think about it.

 

IF things ever got to a default, all they need to do is sell off J.P. Sousa's gun, and Punkin's gold and that would pay what's left on the loan.

OOOPS, I just gave them an idea ~~~~~ My Bad

 

Let`s try this again. My fault for not elaborating the first time.

Banks have legal lending limits.

They also have FDIC insurance on their deposits.

Bank examiners take a very dim view of any loan over the banks legal lending limits, unless ...
A portion of the loan is purchased by another bank, or financial organization, causing exposure on the loan to be below legal lending limits.

The extreme down-side to making a loan over legal lending limits is revocation of the FDIC insurance. This depends upon previous audit violations.

 

It may also be possible that the local lenders knew in advance that the building would be on State of Illinois land. A timeline of dates explaining when the State first offered the tract of land to the THOF trustees, when the THOF trustees first officially declined the offer, and when the THOF trustees chose to seek monies from Elkhorn Valley Bank and Trust for the purposes of building the THOF building would be interesting. Perhaps the THOF trustees never approached one of the local lenders, being unwilling to be forced by regulations to expose and verify usage and distribution of the necessary construction funds.

Borrowing money for the express purpose of building a building may have been too restrictive for the THOF trustees.

 

Does a bank need a certain license to do a loan in other states?

 

Yes. Elkhorn Valley B & T has 15 branches, but they are all very close together. National banks, like Bank America, have branches in many states, and can make construction loans on an interstate basis. If a bank makes a construction loan, they have to be able to make periodic or scheduled construction inspections to prevent potential fraud. For a local bank, like Elkhorn, to make a construction loan for a project 600 miles away is very irregular. Add into the mix that the building was to be built on State owned land seems rather bizarre. If the borrower defaulted, the bank's collateral would be worthless.

It isn't uncommon for national chain stores, like Wendy's or Burger King to built on rented land, but the land is privately owned, sometimes even owned by a subsidiary of the chain. Some organizations are strong enough to self finance.

So, if the THOF building cost +/- 2 million dollars to build, why didn't they borrow the money from the cash-rich ATA? Why did the trustees have to go to such unconventional means to build the building?

But the biggest question of all is WHY are rank and file members being forced through extraneous fees to pay for a building
of which NOBODY even knows the actual final cost, that was not inspected for purposes of blocking potential fraud, and was built on State owned land, thus making it absolutely worthless in the event of default.

 

Phantom, This sounds like another of their shady real estate deals. When are the members going to kick their sorry asses out of the organization? Roger C.

 

Roger,
According to the revised edition of the By Laws,the standing membership cannot under any circumstances or for any reason kick out, remove, fold, spindle, or mutilate any of the EC , ED, BOD, or any Official members of the Good Ol" Boys Club to wit and without notice suspend, or mention such actions without the written approval of the BOD, EC, and ED till death do they part ... They are dam sure not the brightest bulbs in the box but they got elected didn't they ..? (all but one who didn't but he would not give up his seat or spot inline, then later became president and got a new gun ) ... WPT ... (YAC)...