CHICAGO — The Pritzker administration has dedicated over $50 million for capital improvements to Chicago State University. Today, Governor JB Pritzker released $2.5 million for Chicago State University to begin work on a multiphase $25.8 million project at Douglas Hall, including a new Nursing Simulation Laboratory. The campus will also see an additional $26.3 million in state-funded critical maintenance.
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The funding was included in the bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital plan, the most robust capital plan in Illinois history and the first in nearly a decade.
“It is the duty of elected officials to give young people the tools they need to shape their futures and reach their dreams,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “The new state-of-the-art nursing facility at Chicago State University will train thousands of students for jobs in the fast-growing medical profession. Students who learn at the new facility won’t just be prepared to fill healthcare jobs, they’ll be prepared to lead the profession.”
Other state-funded projects will include $3.6 million for boiler replacements, $2.6 million to assess and replace components in freight and passenger elevators in four buildings, $7 million for repairs and upgrades to the Jacoby Dickens Center, $5.6 million for safety improvements including fire alarm and light pole upgrades, and $7.5 million for the first phase of improvements at the Robinson University Center including work on the building’s exterior, roofing, windows, doors and mechanical systems.
At Douglas Hall, the estimated $25.8 million project will include building envelope stabilization, and structural, infrastructure and technology capital improvements that will support the new nursing simulation laboratory within Douglas Hall. In recent years, the State has provided CSU with $15.3 million for earlier phases of the Douglas Hall renovation, including the third-floor College of Pharmacy and critical roof and building envelope fixes.
The historic Rebuild Illinois capital plan passed with bipartisan supermajorities and will invest $45 billion in roads, bridges, railways, universities, early childhood centers and state facilities over the next six years, creating and supporting an estimated 540,000 jobs over the life of the plan and revitalizing local economies across the state.