DuPage County is almost ready to start construction on the new Jeanine Nicarico Children's Advocacy Center.
The DuPage County Board is expected to approve contracts on the new children's center on Tuesday, said Johnna Kelly, the county board's Public Information Officer.
In the meantime, all that stands in the way of construction is getting building permits from Winfield, where the new center will be located.
The new facility, set to cost around $5 million for they county, is part of the DuPage County Children's Center, founded by Former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan, to investigate and process child abuse cases and work with children who witness violent crimes.
The county hopes to break ground on the new center around Labor Day, according to Kelly.
In 2010 DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett announced that the new center would bear the name and honor the memory of Jeanine Nicarico almost 30 years after her tragic death in 1983.
Ten-year-old Nicarico, who was home sick with the flu, was dragged from her suburban Chicago home, raped and murdered.
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“I cannot think of a better way to pay tribute to Jeanine Nicarico and the difference she has made in the criminal justice system,” Birkett said at the time.
Nicarico's killer pleaded guilty in 2009 and was sentenced to death. His sentence was changed to 80 years after Governor Quinn abolished the death sentence in 2011.
The county's children's center was established more than 20 years ago.
