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Sandburg, Bishop Hill State Historic Sites Ready to Open After Mini-Capital Bill Passes
Three historic sites in Illinois are about to re-open.

Four months after then-Governor Rod Blagojevich closed eleven historic sites in a cost-cutting move, the new mini-capital plan will allow those sites to start re-opening.

Historic Preservation Agency spokesman Dave Blanchette says the priority will be the sites with the highest visibility. That means the first three to re-open will be the Dana Thomas House in Springfield, the Lincoln Log Cabin near Charleston, and the Hauberg Indian Museum at Black Hawk State Historic Site in Rock Island.

Blanchette says the schedule for re-openings will depend on how quickly staff can be hired, and how far the $800,000 from the mini-capital plan stretches. Another $800,000 from that plan will help the state make payroll for the sites that stayed open.

As for the next fiscal year, which starts in July, Blanchette says everything depends on the budget. Governor Pat Quinn has ordered that the Historic Preservation Agency be merged into the Department of Natural Resources, but Blanchette says he doesn't know how much money that will save. He hopes it will be enough to help pay for re-opening, or keeping open, the sites that have been shuttered.

The other closed sites are:

-Apple River Fort, Elizabeth

-Bishop Hill, Henry County

-Cahokia Courthouse, Cahokia

-Carl Sandburg, Galesburg

-Fort de Chartres, Prairie du Rocher

-Fort Kaskaskia, Ellis Grove

-Jubilee College, Brimfield

-Pierre Menard Home, Ellis Grove

(Illinois Radio Network)
04 05 09 by Newsroom
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