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Governor Blagojevich on Gambling
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/03/23/news/doc47e707cf548c2521289737.txt
Funds still
not released for old police headquarters in Pontiac
3/32/2008
Bloomington
Pantagraph
Kenneth Lowe
SPRINGFIELD — Despite approval by the General Assembly and the governor last
August, efforts to restore the old Illinois State Police Headquarters in Pontiac
remain stalled.
The gun-shaped building along old Route 66 was recently added to the National
Register of Historic Places, but is in need of maintenance. The building has not
been used by the Illinois State Police since 2004, and is currently not fit to
be occupied.
The law approved in August allows Livingston County to purchase the building and
grounds for $10, and allots the county $1 million to restore it.
State Sen. Dan Rutherford, R-Chenoa, said the governor’s office has yet to
provide Livingston County with either the paperwork needed to buy the land or
the restoration money.
Livingston County Board Chairman Bill Flott said the county cannot proceed
without the money promised by the state.
“We see lots of different possibilities for that facility, and we’ve discussed
some of those with the senator,” Flott said. “The county is looking for that
grant in order to continue with that.”
Rutherford said the plan for the police station was one of only a handful of
things Blagojevich did not cut from budget items put in by the Senate.
“I understand money’s tight… but when it was in the budget, the governor signed
it into law,” Rutherford said.
Rutherford said he has not heard from the governor’s office about the facility.
“To date, funds for this project have not yet been released,” Rutherford said in
a March 14 letter to the governor. “What does the county need to do to move this
effort forward?”
The governor’s office did not immediately comment on the status of the funding.
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