Will County labels old courthouse a ‘liability’

A Will County presentation labeling the old courthouse “an increasing liability” lists expenses of about $1.2 million since the building was vacated in November 2020.

The biggest expense listed, however, is $700,000 in asbestos abatement that was done to prepare the building for demolition.

The presentation was made to a Will County Board committee on the same day that Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant sent a letter to County Board members noting that she would not act on any plans that involve selling the building to a private developer.

Preservationists are urging the county to enter a public-private partnership that would preserve the 1969 courthouse and put it to new use.

The movement to save the courthouse has been gaining some support among County Board members despite a 2019 vote to demolish the building.

The developments this week reflect Bertino-Tarrant’s resistance to saving the building, which she said is contrary to legal advice.

“While it is the board’s prerogative to discuss and vote on options for the former Will County Courthouse and its property, I will not act on any plan for the vacant courthouse that is contrary to the legal opinion of the [the state’s attorney’s office],” Bertino-Tarrant said in her letter.

Bertino-Tarrant pointed to memos from the state’s attorney’s office saying that the property on which the courthouse stands is held in a trust as public ground for public use.

The courthouse is located at 14 W. Jefferson St. in downtown Joliet.

A report presented to the County Board’s capital improvements committee Tuesday titled “14 W. Jefferson: An Increasing Liability” detailed over $1.17 million in costs of ownership of the building since it was vacated in November 2020.

In addition to the $700,000 in asbestos abatement, those costs include $250,471 for electricity, $102,474 for natural gas and about $23,000 for assorted maintenance items.

According to the report, the county also will need to acquire a separate general liability insurance policy for the vacant building with a premium estimated at $100,000.

Hudson Hollister, co-chairman of the Courthouse Preservation Partnership, noted that asbestos abatement needed to be done whether the property was demolished or saved.

He said the remaining $400,000 in expenses “is small compared to the burden the taxpayers are going to carry if the county tears down the building and replaces it with anything.”

Hollister also said that state Sen. Rachel Ventura, D-Joliet, has offered to develop legislation aimed at resolving legal issues the county would face in trying to adapt the courthouse to new uses.