On Monday, Illinois Governor Quinn signed off on a grant of $57 million to be used for renovations. The grant money is part of a statewide capital improvement plan, which is funded by taxes as well as online gambling. One structure that will benefit from this renovation money is Lincoln Hall in Urbana, Illinois. The last major renovation at the building took place nearly 70 years ago, and the aging, asbestos-laden building is in desperate need of repair.

"You enter into the building and the first thing you see is the damage to the floor," Matthew Tomaszewski said. "[It's a] tripping hazard.”

Tomaszewski is the director of facilities and planning at the University of Illinois, and has watched Lincoln Hall slowly deteriorate for years. "It’s just really difficult for students to come into a classroom where floors are damaged," he said. "The chalkboards are damaged [and] there’s cold air coming in the winter.”

”I’ve taught in there a couple of times and the chairs are falling apart and it’s no fun trying to keep students’ attention when they can’t even sit in the seats," graduate student Micah Pollack added.

The basement is an obstacle course filled with asbestos and aging pipes. "I know it does seem like a joke, but this is true," Tomaszewski said to one reporter during a tour of the facility. "The students would come down the steps we just came down to find their academic advisor.”

University officials will meet with architects this week to plan the future of Lincoln Hall. Shortly after that, the university will hire contractors to begin asbestos removal and renovations. Asbestos removal is important, as airborne asbestos can cause serious health problems, including pleural mesothelioma.

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