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Lifelong Access gets $21M to transform Pantagraph building into a youth health care hub

The Pantagraph newspaper operated at 301 W. Washington St. in Bloomington from 1935-2018. The building has been vacant since the paper relocated to Main Street. Lifelong Access will purchase and renovate the 65,000-square-foot facility as a healthcare hub focused on youth and teens.
Lauren Warnecke
/
WGLT
The Pantagraph newspaper operated at 301 W. Washington St. in downtown Bloomington from 1935-2018. The building has been vacant since the paper relocated to Main Street. Lifelong Access will purchase and renovate the 65,000-square-foot facility as a health care hub focused on youth and teens.

Lifelong Access has received a capital grant to purchase and renovate downtown Bloomington’s former Pantagraph building into a health care hub for area youth and teens.

The nonprofit serving people with developmental disabilities and mental illness envisioned expanding its services to downtown Bloomington before they had the money to do it. A state grant, announced Thursday, puts $21.7 million dollars toward their effort to repurpose the former newspaper hub for wrap-around programs and services for youth and teens.

The vacant building at 301 W. Washington St. will get a $21.7 million upgrade over the next two years, funded by a Healthcare Transformation Capital Investment Grant from the state. They are one of 13 agencies to receive the award announced yesterday, totaling $200 million.

“We are learning in real time here with the rest of our community,” said interim CEO Rebecca Brennan. Former CEO Brian Wipperman applied for the state grant. Brennan, the chief operating officer, has served in an interim role as Lifelong Access' leader after Wipperman's abrupt departure following just five years with the agency. The board of directors is in the process of organizing a search for a new leader, Brennan confirmed.

Brennan said they wanted a more accessible location for people to access their services.

"We see a growing need in our community, especially in the downtown area to have a hub," she said. "Also with the revitalization project going on with downtown Bloomington, repurposing a historical building really aligns with the vision we were wanting."

Lifelong Access will keep their current Normal location. They anticipate the downtown Bloomington office being open by 2026. Chestnut Health Systems and the Regional Office of Education have signed on as additional tenants.

Once open, the facility aims to provide wrap-around support for youth and teens dealing with health care access gaps, substance use disorders and thoughts of self-harm, among other challenges. Partner agencies will provide additional support services like dental care, counseling and food security programs for youth — all in one location.

"This partnership will allow us to meet a growing demand for our alternative programming in McLean County and provide greater access to medical and counseling services for the students we serve and their families," said Mark Jontry, regional superintendent for the Regional Office of Education said in a statement. That office supports school districts in McLean, DeWitt, Livingston and Logan counties.

Among the ideas floated for the 65,000-square-foot building since the Pantagraph relocated to Main Street in 2018 was a Connect Transit transfer center, now being explored at the Market Street parking deck. In October, the Bloomington City Council approved a special use permit for the Regional Office of Education to operate an alternative school in the building.

Lauren Warnecke is a reporter at WGLT. You can reach Lauren at lewarne@ilstu.edu.