Full cost to demolish old Will County courthouse still unknown, officials say

Will County officials still are seeking more information before proceeding with the demolition of the former courthouse in downtown Joliet.

While the Will County Board passed a resolution in 2019 in support of tearing down the more than 50-year-old building once a new courthouse was completed, the demolition has yet to take place. The new courthouse was completed in late 2020 and has been in operation since then.

The former courthouse at 14 W. Jefferson St. has sat vacant and even attracted vandalism.

Dave Tkac, the county’s director of facilities and capital programming, presented the County Board Capital Improvements Committee with a proposed action plan for the old courthouse during a meeting Tuesday. The plan included an updated cost estimate for the abatement of asbestos in the building and demolition at about $2.8 million, but Tkac said there were still some unknowns.

“There are a lot of different variables that come into play in terms of trying to cost this out,” Tkac said.

For example, Tkac said the ultimate cost would depend on decisions such as whether the county would remove the building’s basement foundation.

Then there is the issue of an electrical substation in the old courthouse’s lower level that provides power to some businesses in downtown Joliet. Tkac said the county has been trying to work with ComEd on where to relocate the substation, but the two sides disagree over who should have to pay for moving it.

County officials recently received at least an answer to one of their questions about what they could and couldn’t do with the courthouse property. Last week, the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office delivered its legal opinion stating the county could not sell the property for private use.

Mary Tatroe, the office’s civil division chief, wrote in a letter that the old courthouse and a neighboring parking lot are “held by the County of Will in trust as a public ground for public use.” She added that any proposal to sell the courthouse property, even to another governmental entity would “require judicial approval in light of the public use requirement.”

While one private group has argued the old courthouse should be redeveloped for office space, dining and events, county officials appeared ready to move forward with demolition.

“Every day we wait to knock this down is costing us more money,” said Minority Leader Mike Fricilone, R-Homer Glen. “We voted on this over two years ago to knock that building down.”

Capital Improvements Committee Chairman Herbert Brooks Jr., D-Joliet, said he still wants to know for sure how much the entire project will cost before demolishing the old courthouse.

“I need a concrete price on what it will cost,” he said.