John Ackerman

The Tazewell County Clerk’s Office will be joined by State Rep. Mark Luft, members of the Tazewell County Board and County Government Leadership, Pekin City Council Members, and the Pekin Area Chamber of Commerce at a ribbon cutting event on May 4 at 10 a.m. at the entrance of the McKenzie Building in downtown Pekin to mark the completion of a $91,250 Federal Polling Place Accessibility Grant Project.

The grant funding was awarded by the Illinois State Board of Elections in June 2021 with a required completion date of May 2022. The ISBE accepted applications for projects that would improve ADA Accessibility of Polling Locations throughout the State of Illinois, awarding a total of $1,000,000 of Federal Polling Place Accessibility Grant Funding.

This project included installation of a new ADA Accessible Doorway on the west end of the building and sidewalk and roadway improvements on the east end of the building, vastly improving the ADA Accessibility to this vital County Government Office Building, which serves as the home to the Tazewell County Clerk Offices.

During the November 2020 presidential election, over 17,000 Tazewell County citizens utilized early voting in the County Clerk’s Office, a stat that was instrumental in the County Clerk’s Office securing this grant funding.

While the project was awarded to the Tazewell County Clerk’s Office, the design and construction was overseen by the City of Pekin, Tazewell County Maintenance Division, and Tazewell County Highway Department.

The total cost of the project was $94,439.94, with only 3.5 percent of the project paid by Tazewell County Taxpayers and 96.5 percent of the total cost will be Federal Government Grant Funding.