The County Facilities Committee meets tonight, and one of the main topics of discussion will be the future of the old county nursing home:

A reuse study by Isaksen Glerum Wachter dated Jan. 31 details the extensive work required to mothball the facility.

An earlier report from the same consultants valued the building and property at $1.9 million. If the building were removed, the report said, the 13 acres of land might sell for $18,000 an acre, or $234,000 less expenses.

Another option would be to demolish the original structure but retain the 1971 addition, its 32,000 square feet providing enough room for county clerk, coroner and Children’s Advocacy Center, as well as future needs.

Other options include demolishing all the buildings and rebuilding a smaller space for the three agencies or keeping all the structures except the boiler building and garage.

Something that dismays me a little in modern society is how we often discard older structures. We’re often told that ‘it’s cheaper to build new,’ and while that may be the case in certain instances, it still seems frustrating that we don’t do more with our old buildings. I would really like to see the old county nursing home put to good use, providing it’s economically feasible to do so. Hopefully this will be given due consideration at Facilities. The committee meets tonight, first at 6:30pm to tour the old nursing home, and then at 7:00pm in its dining room.

Welcome to the new web site and blog home for the Champaign County Democrats.

While our illustrious webmaster, Ben Grosser, has already crafted an excellent welcoming post, I wanted to take a moment to 1) thank him for the great job he did creating this site, and 2) say how excited I am to see the local Democratic party embracing the internet in such an interactive way. People are welcome to comment here, regardless of political affiliation (or lack thereof), and lively, respectful discussion is encouraged.

Please, feel free to explore the site, learn more about the local Democratic party, check-out upcoming political events, read the blog posts, and leave comments and/or suggestions. The site will only be as strong as the people who read and contribute to it. Thanks for stopping by.