Fairview Heights officials caught off guard that abortion clinic was being built

Fairview Heights city officials said they didn’t know that Planned Parenthood was planning to open a clinic that would offer both surgical and medical abortions.

Mayor Mark Kupsky said the city wasn’t aware of Planned Parenthood’s intentions to move into the former medical office. He said the city only knew that the building was being renovated and a medical organization planned to move into it.

“We did not necessarily know who the tenant was, but that’s not uncommon,” he said. “The zoning allows for that type of use.”

Kupsky said the city first learned of the move Wednesday morning when the news was announced.

However, Kupsky said, Planned Parenthood has been in Fairview Heights for 19 years. He said while their services are controversial, the organization been in the town for a long time and is only moving locations.

Paul Ellis, the director of economic development, said he also was not aware the clinic was coming.

“It didn’t come through us,” he said.

Planned Parenthood did not try to hide the fact that it did much of the work in secret at 317 Salem Place, saying it wanted to avoid delays brought about by such things as protests and bomb threats.

“We were really intentional and thoughtful about making sure that we were able to complete this project as expeditiously as possible because we saw the writing on the wall — patients need better access, so we wanted to get it open as quickly as we could,” Colleen McNicholas, chief medical officer, told CBS in August.

The building has been under renovation since August 2018.

Planned Parenthood did not need approval from the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board, but need to be licensed by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Planned Parenthood expects to serve women from all over the Midwest. An annual estimate of the number of patients who will be served was not immediately available.

This story was originally published October 2, 2019 at 3:28 PM.