The $159 million cancer treatment center planned at Northern Illinois University will almost certainly miss the March 2010 completion date, a date that was required by the state when the project was approved.
Construction has stopped on the Northern Illinois Proton Treatment Center due to the inability to obtain credit to fund the project. According to Illinois health board rules, the project’s “certificate of exemption” becomes invalid in March 2010, and cannot be extended. The board will receive a status update on the project when it meets in Springfield in July.
Constructed started on the project in June 2008. It is one of four proton centers currently under construction in the United States.
Gary Mack, a spokesman for the Center, told the Tribune that he is confident the project would be financed this year.
[Source: Chicago Tribune, June 4, 2009]
