Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner wants to sell state government's central building in downtown Chicago to a private developer.
Rauner says the Thompson Center requires 100 million dollars of updates and fixes -- maintenance needs that have been neglected as the state struggled financially.
Rauner says he hopes to sell it within a year's time for a hefty price.
"It takes a building, a structure, that is in significant disrepair, is very ineffective and very inefficient for taxpayers - I won't comment on the aesthetics. But from pure financial point of view this is a compelling opportunity for the people of the state."
He says the building uses space inefficiently. In occupancy costs alone, the governor says taxpayers would save between six and 12 million dollars a year by moving workers to other office space.
Rauner says it's likely a developer will tear the Thompson Center down. But the abstract, geometric structure is acclaimed by certain critics, and its architect - Helmut Jahn - hopes it will be restored and repurposed.
In a statement ... Jahn says the building was meant to be symbol "for the openness and transparency of the state government."
