What is St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern doing with the old BND building?
St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern is converting an iconic commercial building on South Illinois Street that formerly housed the Belleville News-Democrat into a single-family home.
Kern got a building permit from the city about a year ago, but recently begun construction on the exterior made the project more visible to passersby on the busy street.
Kern bought the building anonymously in 2019 by forming a limited-liability company in Missouri, where principals don’t have to identify themselves in articles of incorporation. It’s called 120 S. Illinois St. LLC.
Kern has been paying taxes on the property, according to county records. He identified himself as the owner on the building-permit application, which the BND obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
“Construction of garage addition (and) renovation of building to single family home,” states a project description on the application.
Kern didn’t respond to requests for comment this week.
The two-story, Federal-style brick building at 120 S. Illinois St. occupies one of at least 29 parcels of property that Kern owns, either directly or through affiliated companies or trusts, in a multiblock area of downtown Belleville that’s centered by his current residence on South High Street.
That residence is on the same parcel as the historic Kern family home that faces East Lincoln Street, behind the former newspaper building. Mark Kern’s mother is Barbara Kern. His father, Fred Kern II, died in 2019.
The BND was founded in 1858 as the Belleville Weekly Democrat. The Kern family later owned and operated it for 77 years. A private walkway leads to the back door of its offices from the East Lincoln Street home.
Mark Kern’s great-grandfather, also named Fred Kern, was running the newspaper in 1898, when a fire destroyed its offices off Belleville Public Square. He moved it to his home before a series of other buildings were constructed, expanded and combined into one complex at South Illinois and East Lincoln.
The BND later was managed by Fred Kern’s son, Bob Kern, and Bob’s son, Fred Kern II, who grew up in the family business.
“Kern worked and learned all the departments of a daily newspaper, from janitor to editor, and apprenticed the trades,” his obituary stated. “As general manager of the old Belleville News-Democrat, he instigated and finalized its sale in 1972.”
The BND was sold to Capital Cities Broadcasting Corp. It’s now part of the McClatchy company.
Mark Kern served as a Belleville alderman for four years, beginning in 1993, and the city’s mayor for seven years before he was elected St. Clair County Board chairman in 2004.
Mark Kern’s LLC bought the 15,000-square-foot building at 120 S. Illinois St. for $1.72 million in 2019, shortly before the BND moved back to the Public Square. The five-parcel sale also included four parking lots.
Today, county records still list the owner as 120 S. Illinois St. LLC, in care of Benjamin Evans, a St. Louis attorney who serves as the company’s agent. Kern paid a total of $51,239 in taxes for the five parcels last year.
On the city building-permit application, Kern listed contractors for the renovation project, including Glaenzer Electric for electrical, Bel-O Cooling & Heating for plumbing, AAIC for architectural and his own company, Belleville Mechanical, for heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
Kern also owns at least 24 other parcels in a multiblock area centered by his current residence. That includes homes, commercial buildings and vacant lots on South High, East Washington and East Lincoln.
Of the 24 parcels, Kern owns 14 directly, county records show. He pays taxes on another 10 officially owned by LLCs and trusts.
One of Kern’s most recent purchases was the Associated Bank building at 100 E. Washington St. in 2023. The cost of $595,000 included 2.15 acres of land, which constitutes nearly the entire block.
Kern owns all but two parcels in the block where the former BND building is located, bounded by East Washington to the north, South Illinois to the west, East Lincoln to the south and South High to the east.
Parcels owned by Mark Kern in the neighborhood include:
- 111 S. High St.
- 123 S. High St.
- 10 E. Washington St.
- 14 E. Washington St.
- 26 E. Washington St.
- 207 S. High St. (1 of 2 with same address)
301 S. High St.
18 E. Lincoln St.
100 E. Washington St.
304 S. High St.
312 S. High St.
320 S. High St.
400 S. High St. (1 of 2 with same address)
400 S. High St. (1 of 2)
Parcels owned by Kern-affiliated entities in the neighborhood include:
- 120 S. Illinois St.
- 100 S. Illinois St. (1 of 2 with same address)
- 100 S. Illinois St. (1 of 2)
- 207 S. High St. (1 of 2 referenced above)
211 S. High St.
South High Street (no numeric address)
15 E. Washington St. (1 of 2 with same address)
15 E. Washington St. (1 of 2)
202 S. High St. (1 of 3 with same address)
202 S. High St. (1 of 3)
202 St. High St. (1 of 3)
208 S. High St. (1 of 2 with same address)
208 S. High St. (1 of 2)
308 S. High St.
322 S. High St.
Kern also owns or co-owns commercial buildings at 4 and 11 S. Second St. in downtown Belleville (west of South Illinois Street) and property elsewhere in Belleville and Freeburg.
