Will County Board calls meeting to discuss halting old courthouse demolition

Demolition of the old Will County Courthouse may have reached the point of no return, but the County Board will challenge that fate next week.

The board has scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday with an agenda that includes a resolution to stop demolition of the courthouse for 90 days until more information is delivered.

The meeting comes as some county officials said demolition of the building in downtown Joliet, which started this month, is so far along that the structure is not safe to stand on its own.

“Frankly, it is quite frustrating to be having this meeting, especially since the building is no longer structurally sound,” County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant said in a statement issued Thursday.

The push to preserve the building, seen by advocates as a sterling example of the Brutalist architecture that was in vogue when courthouse was built in 1969, was one of the top local news stories of the past year. But the battle appeared over when advocates could not muster enough County Board votes to stand in the way of a demolition contract awarded in October.

“At this stage of the process, I will not put the county in a position to be sued and leave a public safety hazard in downtown Joliet.”

—  Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, Will County executive

The building is still standing. But there are three large holes punched through the exterior walls, providing spots where Bobcat-style loaders can push wreckage from the interior demolition that is well underway.

Interior demolition has advanced to the point that it is no longer safe to stop the demolition work, Bertino-Tarrant said.

“At this stage of the process, I will not put the county in a position to be sued and leave a public safety hazard in downtown Joliet,” she said in the statement, also indicating the county is vulnerable to potential legal action by demolition contractor American Demolition Corp. of Carol Stream if demolition is halted.

A number of County Board members, however, are voicing frustration with a demolition contract that was awarded without their approval and without what some say was sufficient information.

Board member Daniel Butler, R-Frankfort, a leading proponent for preserving the courthouse, acknowledged next week’s meeting may be too late to save the building but said it was not in vain.

“At this point, I’m saddened because I don’t know it if will save the building,” Butler said. “I don’t know how much they have damaged it. But we’re not going to let them tear it down under false pretenses.”

Butler and other board members contend they have not received sufficient documentation from Bertino-Tarrant to show that the $1.5 million contract will stay within that price tag.

“We’re real concerned that she’s going to come back and ask for another million to have chunks of the building removed,” said board member Janet Diaz, D-Joliet, another outspoken advocate for preservation of the old courthouse.

Bertino-Tarrant’s approval of the demolition contract without board review was based on what her office said is her authority under law along with a County Board vote in 2019 to approve demolition.

But County Board Chairwoman Judy Ogalla, R-Crete, who has supported demolition, said the board deserves more explanation on the contract than they have received.

“For me, it’s not necessarily for stopping the demolition,” Ogalla said of next week’s vote. “It’s for getting the documentation that some board members believe is missing.”