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Posted September 16, 2005.

Illinois Officials Seek Rebate for Lincoln Library Costs

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration will try to recoup $10–$15 million from contractors who worked on the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, which opened last October after more than a year of delays caused by unanticipated construction problems.

The Chicago Tribune reported September 15 that the state is seeking funds from former Disney designer Bob Rogers’s California firm, BRC Imagination Arts; from Hellmuth Obata and Kassabaum, an architectural firm in St. Louis; and from Siciliano, a general contractor in Springfield.

The decision to negotiate for a refund came after members of the state’s Capital Development Board, overseers of such projects, reviewed a preliminary report from the Chicago law firm of Bell Boyd and Lloyd, which conducted a months-long review of cost overruns and delays at the complex. Board chair Anthony Licata told the Tribune that claims range from “costs associated with delay and delivery . . . to alleged design and construction defects.”

Posted September 16, 2005.