Department of Public Works & Buildings v. Bloomer

The Department of Public Works and Buildings brought this eminent domain proceeding in the circuit court of Madison County to acquire land for the construction of a new highway and for the widening of an existing highway at its intersection with the new one. The defendant owners filed a cross petition for damage to land not taken, and have appealed directly from the judgment fixing their compensation. Ill. Rev. Stat. 1961, chap. 47, par. 12.

The land involved is a tract of 24.96 acres on the outskirts of the city of Alton on which the defendants operate an outdoor drive-in motion picture…