A federals appeals court has upheld the dismissal of an atheist’s lawsuit challenging a state grant given for restoration of Bald Knob Cross of Peace.

Robert Sherman of Buffalo Grove filed the lawsuit against the state in 2010, claiming a $20,000 grant awarded to fundraising group Friends of the Cross in 2008 violated rules of separation of church and state.

The money went toward restoration efforts of the 111-foot cross perched atop Bald Knob Mountain in Union County.

In 2011, U.S. Magistrate Judge David G. Bernthal recommended dismissal, saying Sherman could not sue the state simply because he was a taxpayer opposed to the cross. U.S. District Judge Michael McCuskey then granted the dismissal.

Sherman’s appeal then went to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. A panel of justices hearing the arguments in late 2011 suggested that although a religious symbol, the cross also could be considered a tourist attraction.

The justices also noted the cross wasn’t mentioned in the legislation giving $5 million to the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for statewide distribution. Inferences that state legislators always intended a portion to go to the cross or pressured the state agency was too reaching, a justice noted.