Joliet rejects landmark status for old Will County Courthouse

The Joliet City Council on Tuesday voted 7-2 to deny local landmark status for the old Will County Courthouse, leaving little room for preservationists who want to save the building.

The vote came after hearing from 25 people at a Monday meeting and another eight on Tuesday who urged the council to approve landmark status, which would have at least slowed down demolition.

The voice that appeared to matter most, however, was the one person speaking against landmark status on both days, a representative from Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, who is urging demolition.

“This is an end run for us to stop the county from managing its own business,” Councilman Larry Hug said.

Hug’s comment was echoed by other council members, who said the future of the courthouse should be left in the hands of the county.

Councilwoman Suzanna Ibarra likened the request for landmark status, which received a unanimous vote recommending approval from the Joliet Historic Preservation Commission, with a child’s squabble with parents.

“This feels to me like you didn’t get the answer you wanted from mom. Now, you’re going to dad,” Ibarra said.

Hudson Hollister, co-chair of the Courthouse Preservation Partnership, said preservationists would return to the county board where there is some support for saving the building and redeveloping it for a new use.

“The last time the county board voted the preservation side won,” Hollister said.

Hollister referred to a vote last month in which the county board voted 10-9 with three members absent to send a proposal to study redevelopment options for the courthouse to its Executive Committee for consideration. The Executive Committeee, however, voted 7-4 against pursuing any exploration of courthouse redevelopment possibilities.

Time is running out for the preservationist’s cause.

Bertino-Tarrant is moving ahead with demolition plans based on a 2019 vote by the county board, which then voted unanimously to tear the building down.

A spokesman for Bertino-Tarrant said she plans to approve a contract from nine bidders for the demolition job without sending it to the county board for a vote as long as the bid falls within the $2.5 million approved by the board for demolition in the 2023 budget.

Bertino-Tarrant has said demolition could begin sometime this year.