Church get $1 million from state

Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago has finally received the $1 million promised it by the Blagojevich administration to help rebuild the fire-damaged structure next to the destroyed sanctuary.

The Blagojevich administration, in what it claims was "a bureaucratic mistake," originally gave $1 million to a school that had been a tenant of Pilgrim Baptist Church before the landmark structure was gutted by a 2006 fire.

According to a financial report, Loop Lab School had $243 in cash and a $32,000 debt at the start of 2006, just six days before it lost the space it was renting when fire destroyed.

In order for the church to receive the funds, the money has to be used to rebuild a burnt-out building next to the church. The rehabilitated building would be used as a community center for legal fairs, health clinics and other "non-secular" purposes.