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* This has been going on for years, and it’s unconscionable…
Illinois’ history is crumbling away.
Mansions, museums, and monuments that showcase Illinois’ past, and honor famous luminaries, ranging from President Abraham Lincoln to famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, have been battered by years of fiscal decline and subsequent state-imposed austerity measures, according to a BGA Rescuing Illinois investigation.
The 56 sites operated by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA) require nearly $146 million of dollars in deferred maintenance through 2020. Many of the buildings’ plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling systems have outlived their useful lives, according to interviews with IHPA officials and documents obtained by the BGA under the Freedom of Information Act.
In recent years, staffing has been reduced two-thirds to 48 full-time employees, according to data from the IHPA division running the 56 historic sites, and most of the venues are now closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, according to their web sites. […]
The agency has an annual maintenance budget of $75,000, which covers only the most routine repairs.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 2:04 pm
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–The agency has an annual maintenance budget of $75,000, which covers only the most routine repairs.–
I find it hard to believe that $75K can cover even the “most routine repairs” at 56 historic sites.
That’s $1,339 a historic site. How much annual maintenance can you buy for $1,339, even if the labor were free?
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 2:13 pm
with that kind of funding, it sounds like the objective is for the preservation agency to do the opposite.
Comment by Jerry 101 Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 2:17 pm
–The agency has an annual maintenance budget of $75,000, which covers only the most routine repairs.–
I’m with Word on this, must be a typo to be 750k, not counting capital projects.
Comment by Qui Tam Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 2:18 pm
But hey, we only had a 3% income tax rate for 20 years - and now our rate is only 3.75%. That may make some people happy, but as with most things, you get what you pay for
Comment by Joe M Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 2:20 pm
What a way to celebrate our state’s bicentennial…if we make it that far.
Comment by Old Shepherd Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 2:24 pm
Hey, what’s the big deal? Like any business, we need to shed those divisions that aren’t bringing in the moolah. These place are tax eaters of the worst kind. Let ‘em rot. /s
Comment by TwoFeetThick Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 2:27 pm
*places
Comment by TwoFeetThick Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 2:28 pm
IHPA would benefit greatly by being folded into another agency (DNR or Ag, like in most other states). This has been attempted several times over the years, but never happens.
Comment by FIREDup! Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 2:29 pm
The Little Birdie Reporting Service has obtained documents outlining a planned Rauner fire sale of IL historical buildings during the summer. Here’s descriptions of the prospectus being sent to potential buyers.
Comment by Norseman Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 2:34 pm
Maybe it’s time to sell some of these historical places? 48 Full time employees? The cost of just the labor is over $5 million a year.
Comment by Doug Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 2:36 pm
pensions > preservation
Comment by Info Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 2:40 pm
I’m sure with Heidi Brown McCreery at the helm of the department it will work out just fine. s/
Comment by Honeybear Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 2:44 pm
It would be interesting if the cutbacks started when the Abraham Lincoln Pres Lib & Museum was built. Were funds taken from IHPA in order to build and operate the Abe? Seems the museum has gotten more of the funds with the library allowed to stagnate. Staff retired are not replaced, etc.
Comment by Nearly Normal Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 2:47 pm
===pensions > preservation===
We should be able to do both. Every other state in the Union can handle it, so should we.
Comment by Old Shepherd Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 2:50 pm
The state has over $6 billion dollars of deferred maintenance state wide. HPA is a small fraction of the issues we face as a state in how neglectful we are to our property.
Comment by saluki168 Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 2:51 pm
“IHPA would benefit greatly by being folded into another agency”
What makes you think that folding IHPA into IDNR would be any better? INDR has its own problems with deferred maintenance in the state parks.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 3:00 pm
Yeah–even as we didn’t adequately fund pensions in the 1990s and 2000s, we also didn’t fund other things as well.
If we wanted responsible stewardship, we would have voted for it, right? Going back to the survey Rich linked to a week or 2 ago, we just want more, more, more and not have to pay for it. We get the government we elect, and they win elections because they know what we want to hear.
Comment by Harry Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 3:14 pm
Norseman, you joke falls flat. The Historic Sites Division had 148 employees or so in 2000. It used to have more but some positions were eliminated in the Edgar Administration after the 1991 recession.
Each governor thereafter has left it smaller than before.
Agency consolidation might help the back office functions, not that there are many left, but that doesn’t put staff at historic sites. Did you notice that there are few staff people than actual historic sites, and even that number of 56 doesn’t represent all the sites they are supposed to be operating.
The only near term solution is for the feds to step up and take over some of the sites. Let’s let the National Archives take over the presidential library. The ALPLM is the only such presidential site not operated by the feds. While we are at it, how about letting the National Park Service to take over Cahokia Mounds (which I believe has about seven staff positions). It’s a World Heritage Site and the original effort to preserve the site a century ago called for federal protection rather than state.
Those two actions would free up 75 to 85 staff positions which could then be shifted to the Historic Sites side. Yet even then, we would still be just two and a partial staff positions per historic site.
We need more public and private partnerships. We need to charge admission. And above all, the agency needs flexibility and leadership support from those the Capitol.
Comment by Jon Musgrave Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 3:14 pm
DNR also did its best to try and get rid of the Illinois State Museum system. They are not the right agency to fold IHPA into.
Comment by Artifact Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 3:15 pm
Sell these places? Yeah, great idea, Doug. Let’s have “New Salem, brought to you by Budweiser,” or “The Deja Vu Dana Thomas House.”
Where do you people crawl out from? Some things are important and worth doing as a society, even if they cost money. Sheesh.
Comment by TwoFeetThick Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 3:17 pm
I don’t think it would be a bad idea to lease the Dana Thomas House to the Wright Preservation Trust. They would take good care of it — better care than we’re taking now…
Comment by Soccermom Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 3:24 pm
Artifcat - I think you have it backwards. The Museum has never wanted to be part of DNR.
What other agency manages the same type of properties? At least there’s staff at DNR. They might be sitting around reading the paper, but they’re there. And agreed P3s and admission are necessary everywhere.
Comment by FIREDup! Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 3:25 pm
No need to preserve our past if the State doesn’t have a future.
Comment by very old soil Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 3:33 pm
I look forward to the day when Brucie is history.
Comment by d.p.gumby Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 4:28 pm
Sell’em, Sell’em all! And while we are at it, privatize all the state parks. /s
Comment by G'Kar Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 5:48 pm
FIREDup you’re half right. The museum hated being part of DNR. Some staff were down right hostile about it. Other endured knowing they would eventually split again.
IHPA site were part of DNR back in the day. The agency was created back in the early 80’s to give Dr. David Kenny a place to go when he was pushed out as director of the old Dept. of Conservation.
Comment by Leave a Light on George Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 6:45 pm
Well, you’re half right George light leaver…but it was created to stick it in David Kenny’s nose since he didn’t want to spend the money to buy Dana Thomas Home, so the Gov Thompson split it from Conservation to appease his wife.
Comment by Captain Illini Thursday, Jun 23, 16 @ 8:20 pm