Harper would be big winner in state spending plan

Harper College stands to gains tens of millions of dollars should funding for a $29 billion construction spending plan get Gov. Pat Quinn's signature.

Nearly $65 million is earmarked to fund three projects at the Palatine campus, which made out better than any other community college in the state.

The legislature gave final approval Thursday to legalize video poker, raise taxes on alcohol and increase vehicle fees to help pay for the massive spending plan.

Should Quinn sign it, Harper would get money to construct a Campus Life Center to house enrollment and student services, which are currently scattered in a half-dozen buildings. The state would fund more than $40 million of the building's $50 million estimated cost.

The state also allotted $20.3 million to repair and renovate labs and classrooms for a variety of career educational programs, including engineering, architecture and interior design.

Finally, about $4 million is slated to replace Harper's hospitality program facility, which has a "1950s basement vintage feel," college spokesman Phil Burdick said.

The first two projects have been listed high on a capital spending priority list for seven or eight years. Harper has to match 25 percent of the grants to be eligible for the funding, and officials said the money was set aside long ago.

Burdick said that while there's definitely a new spirit of cooperation in Springfield, he's heard Quinn is having doubts about the bill because a budget hasn't been passed.

"Until the budget is completed, the fate of the capital bill is unclear," Burdick said. "It's really not a done deal until it clears the House, Senate and gets the governor's signature."

Palatine village officials are hopeful capital money will help ease the worst bottleneck in town. The village has secured more than $10 million in grants to fund most of the $14 million needed to redo the intersection of Plum Grove and Palatine roads. The project would widen Palatine Road to include dedicated right, left and through lanes.

The state has jurisdiction over the intersection, but Palatine has moved forward with its own financing, engineering and right-of-way acquisitions.

"Anything the state could contribute would have a real impact on the community," Village Manager Reid Ottesen said.

Many other area suburbs and school districts are getting wish-list projects "shovel-ready" in hopes of also benefiting from some of the state construction windfall.