Deferred maintenance in most institutional and commercial facilities never seems to stop and rarely slows down. The result is that facilities managers and executives must decide at some point whether the most cost-effective move is to keep repairing an aging facility or dispose of it. While some organizations opt to repurpose, sell or demolish such facilities, others decide that combining and relocating are the best alternatives.
An Illinois prison for women would be moved onto the same site as another correctional center as part of a plan to rebuild both facilities, according to a recent proposal by the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC).
Corrections1 reports that the recommendation from IDOC comes a little more than a month after Gov. J.B. Pritzker unveiled a plan to rebuild Stateville and Logan correctional centers, citing the age and deteriorating condition of the facilities. The proposal would help the state avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in deferred maintenance costs, the agency said. The governor said the project would cost close to $1 billion, while offering few other details.
IDOC is asking for $161 million in fiscal year 2025 for the project at Stateville and nearly $80 million for Logan. The transition of incarcerated people and staff will cost about $7 million across both facilities, IDOC said.
The proposal to move Logan from its longtime location in Lincoln to the Stateville property in Crest Hil was included in a report IDOC provided to the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability on Friday, part of a lengthy facilities closure process mandated by the state.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.
