Print
Sep 3, 2008 8:35 pm US/Central
State Aims To Recover $1M Loop Lab School Grant
CHICAGO (STNG) ―
A private school that mistakenly was awarded a $1 million grant by Gov. Blagojevich's administration is being banned from opening its doors to students because of a wave of building code violations, Chicago buildings officials said today.
The state also announced it is poised to recover the money awarded to Loop Lab School, which was the recipient of a grant originally intended for a fire-ravaged South Side church.
The state's Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity "intends to recover the full grant amount," said Lucio Guerrero, a spokesman for Gov. Blagojevich. The school, Guerrero said, has until Friday to resolve several problems the department has found with the grant. If those aren't resolved, "DCEO will proceed to formal grant recovery."
The city and state actions follow a Chicago Sun-Times report in March about how the school inexplicably got money the governor had pledged for the rebuilding of Pilgrim Baptist Church, which was destroyed by fire in 2006.
Blagojevich at that time pledged $1 million to help the church rebuild. But the $1 million awarded for that purpose in March 2007 instead went to the school, which had been leasing space from Pilgrim Baptist but otherwise has no church affiliation.
The Blagojevich administration made amends for the grant mix-up in July, awarding a $1 million grant to help Pilgrim Baptist rebuild.
But exactly how the $1 million was awarded to Loop Lab School and whether the money was properly spent have been the subject of investigations by DCEO, the Illinois Attorney General's office and the state Auditor General's office.
Loop Lab School — a private, pre-K through eighth-grade institution — has since moved from the burned-out quarters it had been leasing from Pilgrim to a building at 318 W. Adams.
But the Chicago Buildings Department has issued a "stop-work order" on the school's new home, according to a recent letter from deputy buildings commissioner Dennis J. Mondero to the school's executive director, Chandra Gill.
"Please note that the Loop Lab School is not authorized to occupy the 2nd floor premises at 318 W. Adams until such time as the Department of Buildings issues a Certificate of Occupancy, as there presumably has been a change of occupancy from commercial use to institutional use," Mondero wrote.
Mondero wrote that the building code issues that need to be addressed include, installation of a "Type 1 Fire Alarm System; natural light requirement in all class rooms and study rooms; Location of exits; Length and width of exit corridors, doorways and stairs."
The Sun-Times was awaiting response to a telephone message left with Loop Lab School. The school's voicemail greeting said the school still intends to open in 2008.
--Sun-Times
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Video: CBS 2's Picks To Click
