Mar 4, 2008 6:43 pm US/Central
Lab School Accidentally Granted $1M In State Funds
Money Was Promised To Pilgrim Baptist Church To Help Rebuild After Fire
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Gov. Rod Blagojevich promised to help an historic church in Chicago to help rebuild when the church burned down.
The state was supposed to write a $1 million check to Pilgrim Baptist Church, but somebody made the check out to the Loop Lab School that rented space from the church.
CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports the future home of the Loop Lab School is the second floor of 318 W. Adams.
There's a kitchen, eight classrooms, wiring for big screen televisions and more. It's 8,300 square feet of prime downtown property and the private school owns every inch.
"They purchased the floor for $1.3 million. It went through Land American Title. Everything was up front," said Michael Griffith, a seller with Card, LLC. "I don't know exactly where the money came from.
One million dollars of the money was unexpected, and accidental, gift from Blagojevich. In January 2006 the governor pledged the million to Pilgrim Baptist Church after a devastating fire destroyed the historic church, and the school.
Loop Lab was renting a room in the administrative building. Someone in the governor's office thought Loop was a part of the church, and mistakenly gave the $1 million grant to the private school instead of the church. As you might image, the school's director was grateful and said so on her Web site.
According to the purchase agreement, the school bought the commercial condominium in May 2007. Dr. Chandra Gill signed the papers. The space was supposed to be ready for the school to move in in July 2007, but it's not finished.
"We've had some construction issues and they're trying to finish that up now," Griffith said.
Griffith figures the space will be ready next month, and Loop Lab School will be open for business.
Even though it was a mistake, the governor has indicated that he will let the school keep the money. However, the state is investigating to make sure the money was used properly.
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