A sincere and heart-felt thanks to Governor Quinn for reopening the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Dana Thomas House in Springfield, Illinois. The Dana Thomas House opens again to the public this Thursday, April 23, 2009 after being forced into closing last November 30, 2009 by the former Governor of Illinois. Here is the article courtesy of the State Journal Register:
Ceremony at Dana-Thomas House to mark historic sites’ reopening
State historic sites that were shut down last fall will reopen Thursday.
Dave Blanchette, spokesman for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, confirmed Monday that the 14 sites will reopen with state aid, most of them at 9 a.m. Thursday.
A ceremony at 1:30 p.m. will mark the opening of the Dana-Thomas House in Springfield. Gov. Pat Quinn will speak at the event, which is being held to recognize the reopening of all of the sites, Blanchette said. IHPA Director Jan Grimes and Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin also are expected to speak.
Fourteen sites were slated for closure last fall, but three stayed open without state money. Two remained open with private and local donations, while a third was boosted with extra volunteer help, Blanchette said.
Last week, IHPA and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 reached an agreement to rehire more than 30 workers who had been let go when former Gov. Rod Blagojevich closed the sites in November.
Blanchette said not all of those workers have agreed to come back to their old jobs, and replacements will be found through union contract requirements.
“In the meantime, the historic sites will open Thursday, April 23, with staff that are available and volunteers,” Blanchette wrote in an e-mail.
Blagojevich had cited budget shortfalls for the move. But after Blagojevich’s impeachment and removal from office, Gov. Pat Quinn decided to reopen the sites, and lawmakers provided the money to do that in a spending bill they approved earlier this month.
AFSCME and workers have applauded Quinn’s decision, timed with the start of the busy tourist season.
