Officials in Springfield, Illinois, plan to extend the city's downtown tax increment financing district for 12 more years to generate $10 million toward a presidential library honoring Abraham Lincoln. The city will also donate a downtown block housing a former police station as the site for the project.
Mayor Karen Hasara said the Lincoln Presidential Center would create about $20 million in economic benefits each year and would complement other Lincoln-related sites in Springfield, such as Lincoln's home and tomb.
Illinois Governor Jim Edgar, who has pledged $4.9 million toward the $40-million project, met with House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) March 26 to discuss a plan for the federal government to match up to $20 million in state funding.
Posted April 6, 1998.