Commissioners sign off on plan to save old Cook County Hospital building

The old hospital, at 1835 W. Harrison St., is in a 2nd Ward tax increment financing district that also includes Rush University Medical Center.Ald. Robert Fioretti, 2nd, said that he does not favor using the special taxing district money, absent proof that the hospital building renovation has some significant benefit for both his ward and the city as a whole.

“It’s a great idea for the re-use, but who is going to pay for it?” he asked. “They have to show this brings something that’s of overwhelming benefit to the community and, by community, I mean not just the ward but the entire city.”

Meanwhile, Patricia Scudiero, commissioner of the city’s Zoning and Land Use Department, expressed general support for the preservation plan. “We are committed to working with you on historic preservation, zoning and other issues in support of the building’s reuse,” she wrote in a letter to Bruce Washington, the county’s director of capital, planning and facilities management.

The plan, drafted for the county by Jones Lang LaSalle consultants, envisions a three-year rehabilitation effort that would commence upon the City Council’s approval of the special taxing district money, Washington said.

To launch the rehab effort, the county will need to set aside about $5 million to hire various consultants, including architects, Washington said. Bonds would be issued to pay for the overall project, he said.

The old hospital, replaced in late 2002 by the newly built Stroger Hospital, opened in 1914. It was initially slated for demolition, but preservation groups opposed that plan and convinced county commissioners to save the structure.

“Cook County Hospital is a landmark in every sense of the word,” said James Peters, president of Landmarks Illinois, which in 2001 placed the old hospital on its list of the 10 Most Endangered Historic Places. “Cook County Hospital is important for both architecture and history. It’s that rare landmark.

“It’s one of the best examples in the city, if not the Midwest or the country, of Beaux-Arts classical architecture. It’s also a pre-eminent building in development of medical history, both in Chicago and in the United States.”