* Sun-Times…

The governor’s aging Chicago offices just got a $275,000 face-lift, thanks to billionaire Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

“The Governor’s Office at the Thompson Center was in a very sad state of disrepair, and the Pritzkers paid personally to replace decades-old carpeting and repaint so that the space would no longer be embarrassing,” Pritzker’s spokeswoman Emily Bittner said in explaining the renovations after decades of neglect.

The stained gray carpets, some with duct tape to hold them together, are gone — at least in the offices of the governor and his staff. There’s now a dividing line between Pritzker’s staff and the offices housing Republican staffers on the 16th floor — a spiffy new blue carpet butting up against the tattered gray one. […]

In total, Pritzker spent $275,000 for carpeting, paint and ceiling tile work, all from his own deep pockets, the governor’s office said. Carpet replacement began on Aug. 12 and will continue for several weeks, the work done with union labor via C&W Building Services, Inc., the general contractor for the Thompson Center. All the renovation was done by state-approved vendors, and they in turn directly billed the Pritzkers.

* Before and after pics…

That suite has needed a rehab for years. Can you imagine what it’s like when people meet with the governor to talk about investing in Illinois? Not a good look. The building won’t be sold for a while, so sprucing it up now makes sense. Also, it’s basically pocket change for this governor.

       

59 Comments - Cubs in '16 - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 9:55 am: I wonder why a bidness guru like Rauner couldn’t pull this off. /s - ChrisB - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 9:56 am: Those carpets aren’t going to age well when they install the waterslides. - Bruce (no not him) - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 9:57 am: It’s a shame the Republicans didn’t have a rich governor to rehab their offices. Oh, wait, they did??? - Cool Papa Bell - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 9:59 am: Some carping about the GOP side left as is. Too bad there billionaire governor wouldn’t update it when he was there. But there is no way he would of used union labor to complete the work. Good on JB. - Philo - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 9:59 am: Would be nice if he showed the same concern for the rest of us here at the Thompson Center. It’s just as bad in other areas if not worse. Torn, filthy, stained carpet, stained walls, decrepit bathrooms. I’d paint my own office at my expense if they let me (I asked, they won’t). - A Well-Regulated Commenter - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:01 am: I really want a pic of the blue and gray carpet dividing line. Could be a metaphor there somewhere… - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:01 am: ===There’s now a dividing line between Pritzker’s staff and the offices housing Republican staffers on the 16th floor — a spiffy new blue carpet butting up against the tattered gray one.=== Meh, the Republicans had a Raunerite who used money so he’d have “no $&@#% problems” If the phony Raunerite folks want to spruce up their digs, go see Schneider, Shaw, IPI, and ask them to renovate. Rauner had no stomach for governing, why make where governing could occur better? The mansion was a vanity thing to help Diana Rauner’s brand, and give the RaunerS the appearance of doing good, which they did with the mansion, while starving higher ed and closing social services. The imagery and symbolism with this makeover, let alone what it tells guests who visit… it will tell folks the horror of the Rauner years are over, believe in a future. - Thomas Paine - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:07 am: What, no outrage from Susan “Sarandon” Garrett? - State Employee 2 - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:10 am: How about a little help for us on 13? I don’t have a billionaire boss and my desk temp is always about 80 with 50% humidity. I get all giddy when the weather calls for rain - no direct sun on the terrarium. - Chicagonk - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:10 am: @CoolPapa - He did renovate the governor’s mansion on his own dime for $15M. Let’s leave the blame game alone on this one. - Lucky Pierre - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:11 am: Every day, all day boomeranging everything back to Governor Rauner. Please tell us all about the “governing” and “compromise” the co-equal legislative branch did to solve Illinois problems- decades in the making, the past 4 years. - Chicago Cynic - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:12 am: It was such an embarrassment for the state before. Rich is exactly right - basically you sacrificed home field advantage and conveyed to out of towners that Illinois was a S-Hole. This was $275,000 very well spent - nothing extravagant. As to the carping about the rest of the building, are you serious? You really think JB should personally pay to fix up the entire Thompson center? That’s bonkers. Sorry, but everyone who sets foot in the place knows JRTC is a disaster area. It sucks. The building needs to go. But it is what it is for now. - Centennial - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:13 am: Wasn’t there an issue with using private money to fix a state asset? I could be way off here, but I thought Rauner ran into this problem when he tried to rehab the mansion. My memory is that he had to create a foundation or NFP or something to make it work. - efudd - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:13 am: “when people meet with the governor to talk about investing” Finally, an actual business person who understands it takes money to make it. Must be a Democrat. - Lucky Pierre - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:18 am: $275,000 on carpeting, paint and new ceiling tiles???? Perhaps what Illinois truly needs is a new chief procurement officer. “the work done with union labor via C&W Building Services, Inc., the general contractor for the Thompson Center. All the renovation was done by state-approved vendors, and they in turn directly billed the Pritzkers.” Think about that for a minute and you can see how much innefficiency there is in the cost of everything government does. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:19 am: ===Every day, all day boomeranging everything back to Governor Rauner.=== It’s the obvious comparison. For four years Rauner held hostage a party and a state. Pritzker has found 60/71 and 30/36, even for heavy lifts, even… bipartisan lifts. The renovation is a symbol that the horror of Rauner and Raunerism both are over. It will take a decade to correct Bruce and Diana Rauner’s damage. ===Please tell us all about the “governing” and “compromise” the co-equal legislative branch did to solve Illinois problems- decades in the making, the past 4 years=== Please tell us how foolish you felt when Bruce himself told of asking 4 others to run in his place… LOL I woulda been angry, defending the man all the time, and he deciding he wanted to skate. Tell us about that. To think, Rauner promised *all* those jobs and *all* those companies were moving, (that never happened) with an ugly office. Imagine what phony we coulda been sold with a renovated office. - Scamp640 - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:19 am: @ Lucky Pierre: There was a grand compromise put together by Rodagno (R) and Cullerton (D) to end the state budget impasse. Do you remember that? Do you remember who stopped this bipartisan effort from happening? I will give you a hint. His name starts with R and it rhymes with auner. - A guy - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:25 am: At least he didn’t yank the toilets out of the uninhabitable GOP side of the not so sweet suite. /s - City Zen - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:26 am: He kept the open concept. Who gets to sit in the awkward corner of the sectional? - Rich people should pay more taxes - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:28 am: No doubt the Thompson center is a dump. But only fixing up his office sends a bad message. Just like the extra compensation he pays to his immediate staff, it is an insult to all of the hard working employee in the rest of the building who interact with as many companies looking to do business in Illinois as the Governor’s office does. The message should be we are all in this together and I as the captain of the ship will be the last to get off. The message should not be the pay scale for state employees is horrible so I am going to change that for my inner circle or the office conditions are horrible so I am going to change that for myself and my office. It is just really tone deaf, like throwing those huge invite only parties with major music stars while there are people out there that can’t afford to buy a birthday cake for their young kids. - Louis G. Atsaves - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:29 am: ===The imagery and symbolism with this makeover, let alone what it tells guests who visit… it will tell folks the horror of the Rauner years are over, believe in a future.=== Always the Rauner years with you Mr. Broken Record. The public has to enter the building with broken doors, several barely or nonfunctioning elevators and furniture and carpeting that were installed when the building first opened? Falling portions of the facade were removed nearly 15 years ago. The auditorium in the basement is barely used for good reason. Want to comment on those images tourists and the public sees and has seen for nearly two decades now? Was Rauner Governor for two decades? I must have missed that. Add the garbage cans strategically placed on the lobby floors when it rains (while tourists are given guided tours), heating and air condition problems from day one and I agree, that speaks volumes about our State. Add the roaches and other critters in the bathrooms and this showcase building for the State of Illinois, which the Democrats blocked from selling for nearly three years during the budget wars, is the pride and joy if Illinois. (Sarcasm fully intended.) Investment in the building stopped during the Blagojevich years. Thank goodness the Democratic Leadership picked up and moved across the street to the rehabbed Bilandic Building during the Blagojevich Administration years. No indignities suffered by them. - Lucky Pierre - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:32 am: Do I remember the Grand Compromise that never passed? Sure I do, and I also remember Speaker Madigan dismissing the entire concept of a Grand Bargain multiple times. But again, continue to blame Governor Rauner for decades of dysfunction in Springfield and while absolving the Speaker. Even though nothing passes or is even called for a vote without his approval in the co equal legislative branch - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:34 am: ===I also remember Speaker Madigan dismissing the entire concept of a Grand Bargain multiple times.=== The whole idea of the grand bargain was TO PUT MADIGAN IN A CORNER. Get everyone else on board and he’d be the one on the outs. You can’t possibly be that dimwitted, can you? - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:39 am: ===Always the Rauner years=== The state will be digging out for a decade the damage Bruce and Diana did… no budget for a whole General Assembly. You got yours, - Louis G Atsaves - so… ===Was Rauner Governor for two decades? I must have missed that.=== … and yet, for three years, Governor Rauner never signed a budget that could address even some things that could be fixed. You forget that. Why? Again, you got yours, now you worry about the decades of the JRTC, lol ===Investment in the building stopped during the Blagojevich years.=== … as Rauner squeezed the state, hurting facilities, having the Department of Corrections scramble for things to function as a caretaker of prisons You got yours, - Louis G Atsaves -, now your worried? - Philo - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:45 am: Chicago Cynic, I don’t expect the Gov to pay to renovate the whole building. I think state government should finally make the improvements instead of annually peddling the fiction that the building is going to be sold. It isn’t. - Shamrockery - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:49 am: ==The whole idea of the grand bargain was TO PUT MADIGAN IN A CORNER. Get everyone else on board and he’d be the one on the outs. You can’t possibly be that dimwitted, can you? == Now, now. Let’s not interrupt a perfectly good hallucination with facts… - Louis G. Atsaves - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:51 am: Here we go again, Mr. Broken Record. If my summary of the current condition of this building is in error, feel free to correct me. I’m also a regular rider of the CTA “L” line and use that station. Should I add a description of that one too? Throw some serious facts at Willy, get insults and name called for a response. Mr. Broken Record, indeed. - City Zen - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:52 am: JB Staffer: My boss JB has altered the office, so we would like to change. State Employee: This stuff ain’t hot, is it? Staffer: No, but I’m bringing a young investor up and she can’t see me working like this. SE: I’ll let you folks work in my office and I’ll move up here. Staffer: Does your office look poor? SE: It’s a real (bleep)hole. You’ll love it. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:56 am: ===my summary of the current condition of this building is in error, feel free to correct me.=== If Rauner didn’t hold the state hostage, forced the state to not have a budget for two years, refusing to sign a budget for three years… correct me. But, you got yours, lol ===Throw some serious facts at Willy…=== “… as I ignore the damage Bruce and Diana Rauner did while I got mine… “ LOL By the way, - Louis G Atsaves - Same question. How embarrassed or angry were you when you found out Rauner asked 4 folks to run in his place, to avoid humiliation and facing voters for the damage he and Diana Rauner did? You never answered. I looked. lol - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:58 am: - Louis G Atsaves - This is true… ===The imagery and symbolism with this makeover, let alone what it tells guests who visit… it will tell folks the horror of the Rauner years are over, believe in a future.=== - JS Mill - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:59 am: =Always the Rauner years with you Mr. Broken Record.= For those of us not on the Rauner payroll or the recipients of his pinstripe welfare, they were dark years. - SAP - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 11:02 am: Bucking up to rehab the mansion is one of the few things Bruce Rauner deserves credit for as Governor. Regardless of your feelings about Pritzker, the Thompson Center rehab is a positive. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 11:04 am: There is also symbolism in that Pritzker is trying to build the state, make it more appealing, be the face and person willing to do the things to move Illinois forward. Rauner? Rauner destroyed companies, couldn’t name a job he created, tried to close state universities, forced the closures of social service agencies… … the empty space, the “before” picture, ironically is symbolic of the Rauner years wants; Empty spaces, closed buildings, destruction. - Lucky Pierre - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 11:13 am: Put Madigan is a corner? Just like bipartisan pension reform or any other huge bill that passed the Senate only to be ignored in the House? The only people that can put Madigan in a corner are the representatives who elect him Speaker every session. - Blue Dog Dem - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 11:38 am: Just curious. Does anyone know the square footage of this office space. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 11:51 am: ===are the representatives who elect him Speaker every session=== Precisely what it was designed to do. Now, get back on topic. - Grandson of Man - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 12:15 pm: Fantastic improvement. Night and day difference. - Anonymous - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 12:36 pm: So Pritzker’s caviar taste cannot handle the state’s bologna budget? - Demoralized - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 1:20 pm: ==$275,000 on carpeting, paint and new ceiling tiles????== What do you care? He spent his own money. ==Perhaps what Illinois truly needs is a new chief procurement officer.== Why? - Cool Papa Bell - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 1:51 pm: Chicagonk - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 10:10 am: @CoolPapa - He did renovate the governor’s mansion on his own dime for $15M. Let’s leave the blame game alone on this one. Not all on his own dime. Mansion Foundation website shows 9 donors of a million or more. Bruce and Diana did give a million (credit due) MK and JB gave between $250,000 and $500,000 as did COL Jennifer N. Pritzker. Go read the whole list. To say he did it on his own is terribly incorrect. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 1:55 pm: ===did renovate the governor’s mansion on his own dime for $15M. Let’s leave the blame game alone on this one.=== That’s not remotely true. While donating, Rauner had the Foundation fund the revocation, not all Rauner dollars. I do appreciate what they did, but the RaunerS were not the lone donor. - Lucky Pierre - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 1:57 pm: As usual missing the forest for the trees Demoralized Why is the rest of the building in such disrepair for decades? Because the state imposed labor regulations and prevailing wage rules result in exorbitant costs like this- a completely ridiculous $275,000 expense to redecorate one office. Does it look like they got their money’s worth? Because the state cannot fix things for a reasonable cost, they just duct tape the carpet in the rest of the building. I don’t see any expensive woodwork, walnut paneling and crown molding, just the basics, new ceiling tiles, paint and carpeting. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 2:04 pm: ===Because the state imposed labor regulations and prevailing wage rules result in exorbitant costs like this- a completely ridiculous $275,000 expense to redecorate one office.=== Always about labor. Always. What should have it cost? I want your bids. ===I don’t see any expensive woodwork, walnut paneling and crown molding, just the basics, new ceiling tiles, paint and carpeting.=== … showing modesty. You need the bells and whistles? Also… - Lucky Pierre - How embarrassed or angry were you when you found out Rauner asked 4 folks to run in his place, to avoid humiliation and facing voters for the damage he and Diana Rauner did? You never answered. I looked. - A guy - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 2:09 pm: ==For those of us not on the Rauner payroll or the recipients of his pinstripe welfare, they were dark years.== Yep, those poor School Superintendents really had to suck it up during the years of….nevermind. They never did. - Lucky Pierre - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 2:21 pm: Always circling back to Rauner for some reason OW. What is the statute of limitations on scapegoating former Governors? Why did Governor Rauner feel the need to reign in the obvious problems with Labor’s total control over the political process in Illinois and Chicago? I dunno, why is Illinois and Chicago facing huge budget deficits and tax hikes on the horizon after record recent tax increases didn’t make a dent in the problem? Because politicians can’t afford to pay for the expensive Labor contracts and work rules the unions who put them in office demand. No amount of class warfare is going to change that. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 2:29 pm: ===What is the statute of limitations on scapegoating former Governors?=== - Lucky Pierre - ===Just like bipartisan pension reform or any other huge bill that passed the Senate only to be ignored in the House? The only people that can put Madigan in a corner are the representatives who elect him Speaker every session.=== Past, during Rauner’s term… ===for decades of dysfunction in Springfield and while absolving the Speaker.=== The past, again, by - Lucky Pierre - ===Please tell us all about the “governing” and “compromise” the co-equal legislative branch did to solve Illinois problems- decades in the making=== - Lucky Pierre -, going “decades” on us. See to your own house. - Lucky Pierre - lol - Louis G. Atsaves - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 3:11 pm: ===I don’t see any expensive woodwork, walnut paneling and crown molding, just the basics, new ceiling tiles, paint and carpeting.=== The nature and natural decor of the building when it was first opened didn’t call for that type of decor. The ceiling tiles, paint and carpeting along with basics in furniture, were then the decor throughout the building. I’m sure Broken Record Willie will disagree. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 3:13 pm: ===Willie=== Please, it’s W-I-L-L…Y - Demoralized - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 3:30 pm: ==Why is the rest of the building in such disrepair for decades? Because the state imposed labor regulations and prevailing wage rules== Lol. You think that’s why the building is in disrepair? Labor rules and prevailing rate? I don’t even know what to say to that. - State Employee 2 - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 3:34 pm: The $275k wasn’t just for his own private office, it was for the entire Office of the Governor. - Demoralized - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 3:34 pm: ==Does it look like they got their money’s worth?== Why. Do. You. Care. It was his money. - Streator Curmudgeon - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 4:26 pm: Looks tasteful and saved the taxpayers money. How could anyone possibly complain about something like this? - State Emp 2 - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 4:30 pm: ==Why. Do. You. Care. It was his money. == It’s the symbolism. Can’t work in the same conditions that the rest of us are expected to work in-and have for years. - Pundent - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 4:46 pm: How does working in the “same conditions” as you help the state particularly when Pritzker is dipping into his own pocket. I get it that you would like to see the same attention to your work area as Pritzker is placing on his own. But he’s funding these improvements out of his own pocket and presumably doing so to present the office in a better light. Maybe the symbolism of working in an old beat up surroundings makes you feel like Pritzker is more of a team player, but I’m not seeing how it ultimately benefits the state. - Grandson of Man - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 4:50 pm: “I dunno, why is Illinois and Chicago facing huge budget deficits” How do you have the gall to criticize anyone after the unprecedented financial and human damage that Rauner and you, his supporter, caused in four years? - Blue Dog Dem - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 5:42 pm: It was a typo. Only $27,500. S/ - Blue Dog Dem - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 5:44 pm: At first glance it looks like my finished basement. - Jack B - Tuesday, Aug 20, 19 @ 6:51 pm: To all of you Rauner haters. Please remember that the Rauner’s donated a million dollars to assist in the redo the Governor’s Mansion. 15 million was raised from private funds, all appliances donated (Pritzker did dontate as well). - revvedup - Wednesday, Aug 21, 19 @ 9:25 am: I can almost hear the Muzak playing when looking at the “after” photo, Yes, the Governor needed an office that looked nice, and he paid for it out of pocket, so I won’t complain about that. BUT…it is somewhat tone deaf to the State employee’s daily working conditions. JB and his team need to address the building’s condition and future. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.