ALTON, Ill.—A little more than two years after officials said, “If you rehab it, they will come,” a $30 million dollar project to turn a former bank building in downtown Alton into a “social impact, high-tech business incubator, accelerator” is nearing its debut.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker toured the Wedge Innovation Center Thursday, which is scheduled to open in February. It will be home to entrepreneurs, start-ups, small businesses along with research, technical expertise and educational opportunities from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.

The project reminded Pritzker of a similar project he founded, known as 1871 in Chicago. What he saw in Alton at the former Wedge bank building on Broadway and the neighboring Elfgen building is a step above.

“These spaces are much nicer, much better than what we created in Chicago and I love the idea that Alton’s going to be the hub of activity for entrepreneurs, tech entrepreneurs, as well as off-line entrepreneurs and the university being kind of a guiding light,” he said.

“We’ve had fun working with historic buildings, and one of our responsibilities in working with historic buildings is to preserve what is important to the community, which we’re doing, but also to infuse the building with a contemporary and modern feel so it’s relevant to a contemporary audience,” said Dennis Hyland, the lead architect on the project.

“It is spectacular that these buildings are being revitalized. The look, the feel, it has this very cool vibe as a result of the mixture of what’s happening inside which are modern businesses being created, and on the outside as people can see, there’s a real history to honor and cherish,” Pritzker said.

Funding for the project comes from private, local, state and federal sources, as well as tax credits awarded by the St. Louis Partnership