Will Fox Ridge State Park close?

The Fox Ridge Foundation will hold an informational meeting at 7 p.m. Friday in the Charleston High School gym. The meeting will address the possibility of closing Fox Ridge park, which had more than 405,000 visitors last year, a press release stated. The meeting is open to the public.

As a result of budget constraints, a list of state parks was made to “identify possible cost savings,” Tim Schweizer, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, has said.

Rep. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, will be in attendance at the meeting in which he will be presented with petitions that have been signed by local residents in protest to the cutbacks, a press release stated. Petitions can be signed at the local Marathon gas station at 702 W. Lincoln Ave.

The final decision on whether the park will close will accompany the approval of the state budget, which can be expected, “sometime in July,” Schweizer had said.

Righter has encouraged students and residents who are opposed to the cutback to contact him and speak out.

“If they’ve had an experience (at Fox Ridge park) that’s positive they need to contact me,” he said.