What is old will be new again – or, at least, modernized.

Nearly $4 million in contracts for renovation work on the 114-year-old Kankakee County Courthouse were unanimously approved Tuesday by the Kankakee County Board.

Five contracts totaling $3.9 million are included in the package as phase zero of the renovation project is set to start on July 24. Phase one of the project will begin in September, pending the conclusion of the Xandria Harris murder trial, currently set to start Aug. 3 and expected to last three weeks.

Currently, the Harris legal team is seeking to move the trial out of Kankakee County. That determination has not yet been made.

“That will be some security modifications, and then phase one officially begins Sept. 8,” said Eric Cavender, county program manager. There will be nine phases.

The renovation, first announced in June 2025, will utilize a $6 million appropriation from the state of Illinois through Gov. JB Pritzker’s office. The grant was secured by State Sen. Patrick Joyce, D-Essex.

It will be business as usual for the rest of the courthouse while most of the work is done. The courthouse has nine courtrooms.

“I would say this is a very coordinated construction event,” county board Chairman Matt Alexander-Hildebrand said. “It’s not like a new build, which is easy.”

BEAR Construction, of Rolling Meadows, is the construction manager of the project. The firm has an office in Bradley.

“Then they’re doing the general trades and millwork,” Alexander-Hildeband said.

The biggest portions of the renovation are prioritized as a 100% generator backup for the entire building, HVAC improvements and building a 10th courtroom. The courthouse has 10 judges for the nine courtrooms at the building at 450 E. Court St. in downtown Kankakee.

“These updates have been a long time coming, and we’re thankful for Senator Joyce’s recognition of that and obtaining funds, so we can get some of those updates,” State’s Attorney Jim Rowe said. “Some of them are going to be technological updates in our courtrooms, which is going to help with trial presentations. Some are going to be technological updates in our offices, which is going to help streamline how we receive evidence, how we turn it over to the defense.”

Rowe said the work won’t hamper day-to-day operations..

“Matt and Anita [Speckman, county administrator] have done a great job, along with Melody [Vilt], our office manager, in ensuring that we’re going to have space to work during the construction, so there will be minimal disruptions,” he said.

Cavender said to create the 10th courtroom, the work will rehab an existing space into a courtroom. Other physical work will include a lot of new carpeting, paint, and preservation.

“Some of the marble is cracking, so we’re going to fix the marble that’s cracking, try to modernize it,” he said. “There will be some furniture replacements, security enhancements, things like that.”

Construction on the courthouse was completed in 1912 for $187,000. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

Once the work is completed, which is expected to take 14 months, Alexander-Hildebrand said the courthouse’s longevity will be secure.

“I think it puts us in a good position for the next 50, 100 years,” he said.

Contracts awarded as low bidders were the following:

• General trades, BEAR Construction for $1,348,550. No other bids submitted.
• Millwork and wheelchair lift, BEAR Construction for $187,989. No other bids.
• Roofing, Langlois Roofing of Kankakee for $348,250. Other bidders were Adler Roofing, $407,700; Anthony Roofing, $406,000; Bennett & Brosseau, $399,600; and L. Marshall Roofing, $492,000.
• HVAC and plumbing, Amber Mechanical of Alsip for $1,196,400. Other bidders were DeKalb Mechanical, $1,417,000; and M&M Sheet Metal, $1,375,710.
• Electrical and low voltage, Keast Electric of Bradley for $822,737. The other bid was Ruder Electric, $1,008,550.