Effort underway to save Illinois Youth Center in St. Charles

Fans of the century-old buildings and mission of the Illinois Youth Center in St. Charles put out a public call Wednesday for private funds to save its crumbling infrastructure.

The state-owned youth center can house up to 318 young men in the medium-security facility. But several years of neglected upkeep have forced the abandonment of a large auditorium and gymnasium. The condition of the structures is poor enough to land them on Landmarks Illinois' 2016 list of the most endangered historic places in Illinois.

A basic inspection of the property by volunteer engineers indicated it will take $3 million to return to a level where the youths and staffers at the center could even make use of the buildings.

State Sen. Karen McConnaughay is teaming up with Landmarks Illinois to find that cash. The St. Charles Republican said the buildings are important to save not only because they're historic.

"They provide expanded opportunity for programming for our incarcerated youth," she said. "Which is important."

Finding money, though, is another story. The state has operated without a full budget for a historically long time, so finding more money for anything is difficult. The St. Charles facility was among the sites Gov. Bruce Rauner contemplated closing last summer to cut state expenses.

Having survived that budgetary guillotine, McConnaughay said she's looking for "creative" ways to save the buildings.

"Of all the priorities we have in the state right now, it's really hard to make historic preservation at the top of the list when we're struggling to provide social services and education funding," she said.

That's where Landmarks Illinois comes in. Director Bonnie McDonald said the group is seeking private dollars and exploring public/private partnerships to find the $3 million.

"We are trying to help (McConnaughay) revitalize these spaces for the inmates," McDonald said. "Her goal is help provide spaces that are going to be an asset for those who are there. And that means not asking for state resources to help do this."

McDonald said her group's main interest is preservation of the buildings, but they support the ongoing use of the structures by the Illinois Youth Center. However, they wouldn't rule out a private takeover of the property, whether that involved the continuation of the youth center or a new use.

"Let's say the state decides to close the facility," McDonald said. "We still have all those historic buildings that are still historic assets. We would definitely care about finding a suitable reuse of the property. The worst thing we can have is a vacant building. A vacant building is a deteriorating building."

McDonald's not-for-profit group has some limited grant funds that may come into play for ongoing public use of the buildings. Private development or ownership would limit access to those grant dollars, she said.

McConnaughay is asking members of the public to contact her office in West Dundee at (847) 214-8245 and voice support for the rehabilitation efforts of the youth center. Community support will drive private and public dollars to assist with the needed renovations.

The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice operates the Illinois Youth Center. Officials were made aware of the placement of the auditorium and gym on the endangered historical places list. They declined to comment Wednesday.

• Daily Herald state government writer Mike Riopell contributed to this report.