The former Illinois State Police Office in Pontiac, Illinois, United States served as the Illinois State Police District 6 headquarters from its construction in 1941 until 2003. The building, located along old U.S. Route 66, was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2007.HistoryBuildingThe Illinois State Police Office south of Pontiac, Illinois along U.S. Route 66 was constructed in 1941 as the headquarters for the Illinois State Police District 6. The building was one of the first headquarters buildings to be built during the era.The new headquarters building was constructed and traffic along Route 66 continued to increase throughout the 1940s. In 1944 the route was widened to four lanes through this region of Illinois and two additional highway lanes were constructed directly in front of the building. When Interstate 55 was built about a half mile (800 m) to the west of the route during the 1970s traffic on 66 began to decrease. The Illinois State Police remained headquartered in the Pontiac U.S. Route 66 building until 2003. The building was vacated when a new facility was constructed in Pontiac, the old structure had become expensive to maintain and subject to repeated flooding issues. The building is vacant as of 2003.After being listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in March 2007, preservationists received word that a bill had passed the Illinois House of Representatives authorizing the state to pass ownership of the building to Livingston County. The bill was sponsored by a state representative from nearby Chenoa, Dan Rutherford, who called the building "part of the heritage of Route 66." A similar bill passed the Illinois Senate on August 23, 2007 and was enacted as law the same day.
