Old Will County Courthouse gets ‘stay of execution’

The old Will County Courthouse might have been saved from the wrecking ball this week – but for how long?

The Joliet Historic Preservation commission delayed a decision Wednesday on whether to recommend landmark status for the building. By doing so, the commission kept in place a temporary barrier to demolition that could be prolonged into October.

“This is a stay of execution,” Courthouse Preservation Partnership Co-Chairman Hudson Hollister said after the vote.

Advocates are trying to generate public support and state legislation in favor of preserving the old Will County Courthouse at the same time that county government is proceeding with plans to demolish the building.

CPP applied for local landmark status for the courthouse on April 14, which triggered a 180-day prohibition against demolition. That stay on demolition is in place while a decision is pending on landmark status.

A Wednesday vote for landmark status by the commission would have sent the matter to the Joliet City Council for a final decision.

“If the commission votes for this to go to the council, I highly doubt that the votes are there,” Commissioner Quinn Adamowski said, raising the specter of a City Council decision against landmark status by July. “If the county pulled the permit for demolition in July, the building’s coming down in August.”

It’s unclear when the county would demolish the building – a contract for demolition has not been approved, although the county is proceeding with plans initiated in 2019, with a unanimous county board vote to tear down the old courthouse.

I am dead set against knocking this building down. I am asking for time so we can decide what’s best for the community as a whole.”

—  Janet Diaz, Will County Board member

A movement to reverse the 2019 decision continues, and three county board members came to the Wednesday hearing to speak in favor of landmark status.

“I am dead set against knocking this building down,” board member Janet Diaz told the commission. “I am asking for time so we can decide what’s best for the community as a whole.”

Hollister asked the commission to continue the public hearing on landmark status to June when he said developers interested in putting the building to new use could make presentations. Commissioners said they wanted to raise public awareness on the matter.

“We want the public to be more involved,” Commissioner Candace Johnson said. “We want them to know what’s at stake. I also want to hear from the developers.”

Fourteen people spoke in favor of landmark status at the hearing, many of them describing the courthouse as an iconic downtown building.

No one spoke against landmark status, which could create other barriers to demolition. However, the Will County Executive’s Office previously informed the commission that it opposes landmark status.

Rick Lockhart, a general manager with Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant chain and new Joliet resident, said at the hearing that the old courthouse “adds to the experience of relocating here.”

Lockhart continued, describing his feelings when driving over the Jefferson Street drawbridge into downtown.

“The first thing that struck me was the building,” he said. “The unique design of it, how it catches the eye and the experience of being in downtown Joliet.”

Barry McCue called the courthouse “a symbol of Joliet. Everybody has a view of that building. You like it. You don’t like it. But everyone has a view of that building.”

Built in 1968, the courthouse was designed in a Brutalist style that makes strong use of concrete and geometric shapes. Although many residents have derided the old Will County Courthouse as ugly over the years, the structure also has come to be cherished after the prospect of demolition became a possibility.

Joliet city staff recommended in favor of designating the courthouse a local landmark status, saying the the building is the best local example of Brutalist architecture in checking most of the boxes for the landmark status.

Landmarks Illinois in 2022 has been a major advocate for saving the building after it designated the courthouse one of most endangered historic places in the state.

Adamowski, who is employed as a regional advocacy manager for Landmarks Illinois and has been one of the leading voices in favor of preservation, abstained from the 7-0 commission vote to continue the public hearing until its June 28 meeting.