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To Restore Executive Mansion, Rauner Plans Private Funds

Bruce Rauner
Brian Mackey
/
NPR Illinois

Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner visited the Executive Mansion during his trip to Springfield Thursday.

First occupied in 1856, Illinois’ Executive Mansion is one of the oldest such buildings in the country. And with roof leaks, flooding and other problems, it’s showing its age.

Rauner and his wife visited the mansion to assess the situation and begin planning to "bring it up to the standards that we should all expect in the seat of our government.”

“My plan would be to have the repairs that we undertake now to be 100 percent privately funded," Rauner said.

Jim Edgar is the last governor to make the mansion his primary residence, and he left office in 1999.

Governors choosing to live in or near Chicago has been a sore spot among downstaters who already feel alienated from the state’s leading politicians. That list includes former governors George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich, as well as outgoing Gov. Pat Quinn, despite what he's said about his underwear.

During the campaign, Rauner repeatedly said he plans to reside in Springfield.

Brian Mackey formerly reported on state government and politics for NPR Illinois and a dozen other public radio stations across the state. Before that, he was A&E editor at The State Journal-Register and Statehouse bureau chief for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
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