With the old Cook County Hospital apparently another step closer to demolition, Mayor Richard Daley on Thursday maintained a determined silence on the vintage building’s fate.
Even if the Cook County Board ultimately votes to raze the structure, a city permit would be required for demolition. But as he has since the possible demise of the shuttered hospital first became an issue, Daley dodged when questioned about where he stands.
“Gee, I really don’t know,” he said when asked whether he would allow a demolition permit to be issued. “I don’t know.”
In a new report, the county’s Office of Capital Planning on Wednesday recommended that the County Board proceed with demolition after concluding that bids from two private developers who want to rehabilitate and reuse the building were insufficient. The report recommended speedy action, citing monthly maintenance costs of nearly $400,000.
Critics contend that County Board President John Stroger, who at first refused to consider anything but razing the building, sought developer proposals only as a sop to critics who insisted that officials should try to save it.
Daley “should direct his staff and the Landmarks Commission to prepare a nomination for landmarking,” asserted Jonathan Fine, president of Preservation Chicago. “It is completely and totally in his hands. There is no excuse for the Stroger administration to have the final word on this building. This is not about John Stroger. It is not about the Cook County Board. This is a national historic landmark.”
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Fine theorized that Daley has remained mum in the hope that the issue will be resolved by the County Board and “not have to come back to City Hall.” But if the county seeks to raze the building, “We as preservationists are going to force it back to City Hall,” he said. “We are not going to let this issue die.”
Because the building has a high “orange” rating in a city survey of significant buildings, a demolition permit could not be issued until a 90-day review by city officials to determine whether it has landmark qualities and should be preserved.
“I understand the mayor is probably not anxious to meddle in the affairs of Cook County,” said David Bahlman, president of the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois. “But in this particular case, the city has jurisdiction because it is an orange-rated building. It does become the city’s problem.”
An ordinance mandating the demolition delay and landmark review was passed last January.
If the county seeks to raze the old hospital, “I think this is going to be a test case” on the measure’s effectiveness, Bahlman said.
Preservationists contend the old Beaux Arts-style building qualifies to be saved on both architectural and historic grounds.
“There is no other hospital physically like it left in the country,” Fine said. “The materials used, the quality of construction–visually it should be saved on that merit alone.”
But the building also has a rich history, having provided medical treatment to successive waves of poor immigrants over its 89-year history, served as a training ground for African-American doctors who came to Chicago from the South and having been the site of medical innovations, supporters say.
One developer has proposed converting the building into medical offices. Another has unveiled a plan for a 200-room hotel and senior citizen housing.