Abraham Lincoln Museum financial suits finally settled

Only the idiots running Illinois can screw up something like the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library. Little Marathon Pundit and I visited the Springfield museum--it is nice--somewhat Disney-esque, which the scholars don't like, but it's an attraction I recommend to visit to anyone with even a slight interest in our 16th president.

From the Chicago Tribune, free registration may be required for the link:

A long and bitter fight about cost overruns at the $145.2 million Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum has ended with the state collecting more than $3 million and refusing to pay millions of dollars that contractors contended they were owed.

All parties, state officials said, accepted some portion of the responsibility for overruns and delays that led to the festering financial dispute over construction of the project, which spanned three governors and cost millions of dollars more than anticipated.

Although early on state officials optimistically thought they could recover as much as $15 million, they negotiated a settlement worth slightly more than $3 million, including $2 million from the architect. Officials said they also deflected claims from contractors worth more than $7 million following three years of negotiations that led to the settlement.

The Lincoln complex—the museum, library, parking garage, visitors center and park in downtown Springfield—took longer to plan and build than it took Lincoln to lead the country through the Civil War.

Related posts:

Thirty hours in Lincoln's Springfield, Illinois

Book review: Andrew Ferguson's "Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America"

Tony Rezko's bi-partisan reach (and Abraham Lincoln)

Technorati tags: Politics Illinois politics Springfield Illinois Abraham Lincoln history museums culture