Details remained elusive Thursday about an $80 million, state-funded “central computing facility” for state government that the Illinois Capital Development Board said will be established in the Springfield area. 

Officials from the board and the Illinois Department of Innovation & Technology either were unavailable or didn’t respond to phone calls and emails Wednesday and Thursday after the announcement late Wednesday afternoon. Springfield city officials said they didn’t have details of the project beyond what was contained in a news release from the board. 

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Gov. JB Pritzker described the future center in the release as a “cutting-edge computing facility that will allow the state’s infrastructure to continue modernizing and evolving.” 

The project will be funded through the Democratic governor’s Rebuild Illinois infrastructure improvement plan, according to the release. 

Also not returning phone calls were state Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, and Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur. Both lawmakers were quoted in the release, which said Chicago-based Exp U.S. Services Inc. was selected to oversee the project’s design and construction. 

Jennifer Ricker, acting secretary for the state innovation and technology department, said in the release, “As we plan for the future, a secure and modern data center is essential to accommodating rapidly evolving technology to meet the needs of state agencies.” 

Turner said the selection of a design firm is “very welcome news for state government and the workforce of Springfield.” 

Scherer said the facility “is going to be a project we can all reference when discussing worthwhile public investment.” 

The $45 billion Rebuild Illinois program was put in place with a package of bills passed by the General Assembly on a bipartisan basis in 2019 and signed into law by Pritzker. 

The program is funded by a doubling of the state’s motor-fuel tax, a tax increase on cigarettes, and expanded gambling that includes new casinos in Chicago and its suburbs and the introduction of legalized sports betting. 

The Capital Development Board also announced $431,250 in Rebuild Illinois funding for the main campus of Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield to upgrade about 100 exterior doors on 10 to 12 campus buildings. 

The state money will be added $143,750 from the community college’s tax revenues to pay for the $575,000 project, according to Bryan Gleckler, Lincoln Land’s vice president of administrative services. Lincoln Land’s money came from money left over from other projects, so property taxes weren’t increased to fund the door improvements, he said. 

The project should be completed by early 2022 and for the first time will allow the community college to remotely lock and unlock exterior doors rather than depending on campus police to use keys for those tasks, Gleckler said. 

The project will increase security on campus and give police more time for other priorities, he said. 

State Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, said in the Capital Development Board release: “I’m excited to see that the capital plan is continuing to invest statewide dollars on much-needed projects in central Illinois. Lincoln Land Community College is a major asset to our community and an important driver of economic growth.” 

Contact Dean Olsen: dolsen@gannett.com; (217) 836-1068; twitter.com/DeanOlsenSJR.