they found that their citizenry was in favor of restoring the old theater for use by the community as a cultural and entertainment center. During the early morning hours, of March 10, 1997, a blaze quickly raced through the Civic Center, and totally gutted the theater, leaving it a smoldering shell after the blaze was put out. The facade of the Orpheum was salvaged, but the remainder of the theater was razed, and in 2000, it was decided that a new Cultural and Civic Center would be built on the site of the old Orpheum and a couple of other demolished neighboring structures. Sister City Marion became a sister city to Kanie, Japan, on March 26, 2010. Tourism Tourism promotion and marketing in Marion is conducted at the county level with a county bed tax of five percent. Forty percent of that amount goes to the Williamson County Tourism Bureau and the remaining 60 percent to the Williamson County Events Commission for debt service on the bonds used to build the Williamson County Pavilion, a multi-use meeting and convention center immediately north of the Illinois Centre Mall in Marion. That building also houses the tourism bureau. Camping facilities in the city include the Motel Marion and the new Marion Campground & RV Park, both located off of Exit 53 on the east side of the interstate. Major attractions that draw visitors to Marion include Southern Illinois Miners' games at Rent One Park, events at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, The Southern Illinois Roller Girls bouts at the Williamson Co Pavilion, approximately two dozen wineries within a radius of the city including those on the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail and the Southern Illinois Wine Trail, Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge adjacent to the city, Lake of Egypt immediately to the south and the Shawnee National Forest and various state parks that stretch along the Shawnee Hills from river to river. Sports Government Marion's city government is led by Mayor Mike Absher who assumed office on April 22, 2019 after defeating Incumbent Anthony Rinella who was appointed after longtime mayor Robert L. Butler resigned. The city operates on a city commission system of government with the mayor and four city commissioners, each elected for four-year terms. The council calendar calls for meetings on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month. However, the council generally extends those meetings, and with the exception of major