The Bloomington Planning Commission on Wednesday recommended designating the former Pantagraph building at 301 W. Washington St. as a historical landmark.
The vacant building is now owned by Lifelong Access, which received a $21.7 million capital grant to buy and renovate the space in December. Hewn Architectural Studio is partnering with Lifelong Access to convert the former newspaper building into a health care hub for area youth and teens.
The Bloomington City Council will vote on the designation at its July 28 meeting.
On Wednesday, Paul Scharnett, project manager and lead architect, said applying the S-4 [Historic Preservation District] overlay would allow the remodeling project to retain some existing features that would not be compliant with code without the designation.
The overlay also would allow for more grant funding because of the historical designation. Registering with the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office also is required.
“That is just a natural part of our grant funding for the project,” said Scharnett.
Scharnett said the architectural firm already has been awarded a grant by the state, and the historic preservation would allow the remodel to reuse as much of the current facility as it can.
The Historic Preservation Commission held a public hearing on June 26 to determine whether the 65,000-square-foot building met the criteria to be classified as a local landmark. The measure passed, citing the architectural significance of the structure as well as the historical significance The Weekly Pantagraph, as the publication was then known, had to figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Jesse Fell. The Pantagraph also employed female reporters at a time when journalism was more exclusively conducted by men.
The newspaper relocated to 205 N. Main St. in 2018.
“It has been a landmark visually for almost 100 years at this point,” said Scharnett. “And so it's incredibly important in this process that we can kind of continue making sure that the building is still something that is notable but functional in this process.”
The design of the space is expected to be completed later this year, with construction beginning as soon as early 2026.
Effects from possible Medicaid cuts
On another topic, Lifelong Access CEO Karl Kopp said it's too early to know how potential Medicaid cuts could impact the services the agency provides, but there are other avenues at its disposal if needed.
The spending bill passed by the Senate makes $930 billion in cuts to Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act and SNAP benefits over the next 10 years. The House version has $800 billion in cuts. The House was still debating the measure Thursday night.
“It is a concern. But we take private insurance too, so there's different vehicles to bring people into that facility. So, it's not over until it's over. We don't know what that impact will be for the state of Illinois,” said Kopp.
Kopp said he expects the project in downtown Bloomington to “keep moving” regardless of what comes of the “big, beautiful bill” at the federal level.
Lifelong Access plans to hold a ribbon cutting for a new facility in Bartonville in Peoria County in the fall.
“That's an under-resourced area, so we are doing home services there,” said Kopp.
