* This may seem like a fitting tribute on its face…
Governor Rod Blagojevich’s office says the building that was the scene of this month’s shooting at Northern Illinois University will be demolished and replaced with a new classroom building.
A gunman fatally shot five students attending a lecture inside Cole Hall before turning a gun on himself on Valentine’s Day.
Blagojevich plans an afternoon news conference to announce funding that will allow NIU to demolish Cole Hall. A new state-of-the-art general classroom building will be built on the site and named Memorial Hall.
But, as IlliniPundit also notes, I can’t help but wonder whether this is just another empty promise made without first identifying a funding source. It may not seem fair to appear so cynical at a time like this, but I’d hate to see expectations raised for no good reason.
This is our first discussion thread on the NIU shootings, so try to keep everything toned down in comments. Thanks.
…Adding… The facts weren’t completely clear when I first posted this, so some commenters need to take a deep breath…
* From what I gather, NIU officials were the ones who developed the idea and presented it to the governor’s office. So, it wasn’t some purely political thing concocted by Blagojevich as some commenters are claiming.
* Local legislators Sen. Burzynski and Rep. Pritchard have been involved in the discussions with the university and the governor’s staff about the proposal. They will reportedly introduce legislation to get additional bond authority and a supplemental appropriation for the project.