The following is an excerpt of an Illinois Times article published on Oct. 20, 2022
University of Illinois officials hope to close in late October or early November on the $950,000 acquisition of a downtown Springfield building at 401 E. Washington St. that will house the UIS Innovation Center.
"I'm very confident it will help grow our economy significantly," said Bruce Sommer, University of Illinois Springfield's director of economic development and innovation. "A really big and significant goal is to attract and retain talent here in Springfield. We hope that this state-of-the art innovation space will do that."
The university's Board of Trustees approved the purchase of the three-story, 26,400-square-foot building in July from the Illinois Sheriffs' Association.