A new $80.5 million “central computing facility” for state government that will take two years to build and be constructed at an as-yet-undetermined site in the Springfield area will replace an existing facility two blocks north of the Capitol. 

But while revealing a few more details beyond the initial announcement Wednesday,  the Illinois Capital Development Board wouldn’t say whether the new building will result in additional permanent state jobs or what will happen to workers at the existing facility. 

Spokeswomen Lesa Branham from the Capital Development Board and Jennifer Schultz from the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology responded only to written questions and didn’t answer requests for interviews. 

The board said Wednesday in a news release it has selected Exp U.S. Services Inc. of Chicago to oversee the design and construction of the facility. 

The release said the building will be used by the Department of Innovation and Technology to “further strengthen our state’s standing as a cutting-edge computing facility that will allow our state’s infrastructure to continue modernizing and evolving.” 

More: $80 million computing center for state government to be established in Springfield area

The project, funded by Gov. JB Pritzker’s bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital improvement program, will replace the 1970s-era central computing facility at College and Adams streets in the Capitol Complex, according to the Capital Development Board. 

“The existing facility will be repurposed for alternative usage by the state when the new facility is online,” the board said.  

Once completed, the new facility will “provide enhanced capabilities” to allow the Department of Innovation and Technology “to better support the resiliency and security required to serve agencies and the public,” the board said. 

The board said the innovation department “currently supports thousands of applications and servers for dozens of state agencies, boards and commissions, a number that has grown significantly since the current facility was built.” 

Since that time, the state’s use of technology and the state’s information technology infrastructure have evolved and grown, the board said. “And the current data center has become less suitable for our needs,” the board added. 

A site for the new facility hasn’t been chosen, according to the board.  

The Pritzker administration “will work with local elected officials and stakeholders throughout the course of the selection process,” the board said. 

Exp U.S. Services is finalizing a report on a variety of sites in the Springfield area.

“Following the purchase of the site, Exp U.S. Services will solicit “design-build teams to complete the design and construction,” the board said. “Construction is anticipated to take approximately 24 months.”  

The board estimated the project will create 16 construction jobs for every $1 million spent on general construction work.

Contact Dean Olsen: dolsen@gannett.com; (2178) 836-1068; twitter.com/DeanOlsenSJR.