Will County Board makes late attempt to snarl courthouse demolition

Will County Board advocates for keeping the old courthouse on Thursday may have created the study committee they have wanted for months, but it’s likely too late.

A demolition contract already has been signed, and a spokesman for the county executive’s office said demolition won’t be delayed by the latest attempt to save the building in downtown Joliet.

The County Board Executive Committee in a 6-5 vote approved the creation of an ad-hoc committee to examine the benefits of keeping the old courthouse.

The courthouse committee will look into “the value and possibilities that could have occurred with the old courthouse,” County Board Democratic leader Jacqueline Traynere said. “If they don’t demolish it before the committee finishes its work, perhaps we can turn it around.”

A similar proposal failed by one vote in the committee last month, apparently ending the last effort by preservation advocates to block the demolition.

The executive’s office the next week signed off on a $1.5 million demolition contract.

Creating the courthouse committee at this point leaves a glimmer of hope that the building could be saved from demolition, Traynere said.

“Some of us don’t like to accept defeat,” she said.

But Michael Theodore, spokesman for Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, said Friday that the creation of the new committee will not slow down demolition.

“Our office has held a pre-construction meeting with the demolition company to discuss next steps,” Theodore said in an email. “They are still on track to begin mobilizing this month to begin demolition.”

The creation of a new committee does not change past County Board votes to proceed with demolition, Theodore said.

Whether the committee survives is in question.

Theodore contended that the Executive Committee violated a County Board rule requiring that the County Board chair establish ad-hoc committees with the concurrence of the Executive Committee.

County Board Chairwoman Judy Ogalla, who voted against creating such a committee in October, was not at the Thursday meeting because of an illness in the family.

Reached by phone Friday, Ogalla said she did not know that the committee was going to be proposed again at the Executive Committee meeting. She said she would consult with her chief of staff to determine whether the committee requires her approval to survive.