Page 5 - County Bulletin (January 2020)_Layout 1_Neat

Vacant for decades, Cook County hospital’s transformation
into hotel, medical offices nearly complete

For nearly two decades, the sprawling old Cook County Hospital
has sat vacant. The Beaux-Arts classical-style building’s fate was in
limbo as its terra cotta facade crumbled, and its interior was damaged
from years of water seeping through its deteriorated roof.
Now, 18 months after the Civic Health Development Group broke
ground on the restoration of the site at 1835 W. Harrison St., the old
Cook County Hospital is months away from its next life as a hotel and
office complex on the Near West Side.
The restoration is part of a $1 billion multiphase plan led by Murphy
Development and Walsh Group to rehab the 106-year-old hospital and
build apartments south of the rehabbed building to the Illinois Medical
District. When the project is completed in May, the former hospital will
be home to a 210-room Hyatt House and Hyatt Place hotel, medical
office space, a daycare center and a food hall, said Jeffrey Pezza,
vice president Walsh Group.
The renovated building will also feature a museum paying tribute to
the hospital’s legacy, Pezza said.
While the team has taken on several historic restorations including Chicago’s
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Oriental Theater, 32 W. Randolph St., and the old Chicago Motor Club at 68 E. Wacker NEWS & UPDATES
Place, Pezza said the old Cook County Hospital presented unique challenges.
“A job like this has more risk… because of the facade and 17 years of neglect. …It’s
a challenge and to make the budget work. It’s kind of a tight rope,” Pezza said.
Even so, Pezza said the group, consisting of various partners, including architecture The Grundy County Board approved a
firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, worked together under a tight schedule to new five-year capital improvement plan
successfully complete the restoration and ensure the building remains intact for another which outlines proposed spending for
100 years. fiscal years 2020-2024 at a grand total
In the 18 months since beginning the restoration, the team has worked extensively of $39.4 million. The county conducted
on the facade, spending more than $18 million to replace all of the windows and 4,160 an internal study to determine the needs
terra cotta pieces on the exterior. All of the building’s interior was gutted except the old of different departments including the
surgical theaters, said Ken Johnston, senior project manager at Walsh Group. highway department, administration,
Ahead of the project’s June 2018 groundbreaking, Johnston said the massive aban- sheriff’s department, transit and the
doned building created a “negative” mood in the surrounding area. Emergency Management Agency. “We,
“The minute we put the construction fences, you could just feel some life coming back from a financial perspective, can walk
into this area of the city. It’s such an amazing transformation to be part of,” he said. forward for the next five years with as
few surprises as possible,” said Grundy
Reprinted with permission. Mauricio Pena / Block Club Chicago. Read the complete story which County Board Chair Chris Balkema.
includes photographs of the renovation at blockclubchicago.org.
The Rock Island County Board voted
to allow refugees to relocate in the
Hood elected president of county. The vote is in response to a
Presidential executive order giving local
State’s Attorneys Association governments the right to turn away
refugees. In the last five years, Rock
Hamilton County State’s Attorney Justin Hood was elected Island County has seen 764 refugees
President of the Illinois State’s Attorneys Association (ISAA) at the come in through World Relief; that is
Association’s annual conference held recently in Chicago. Hood .052% of the total population.
is the first Hamilton County State’s Attorney ever to be elected
President of the Association. Williamson County Commissioners
are considering creating an ordinance to
“I appreciate the honor to be elected by my colleagues to this important require a building permit for all new
position in the Association,” stated Hood. “I intend to work closely with my construction in unincorporated areas of
fellow State’s Attorneys to ensure the highest quality of prosecutorial services the county. The county has experienced
to the citizens of Illinois.” difficulty enforcing its flood plain
ordinance in unincorporated areas.
The ISAA is a bi-partisan organization whose purpose is to promote the orderly According to Supervisor of Assessments
administration of justice and the enforcement of the law. State’s Attorney Hood will also Jeff Robinson, for residents to be able to
direct the Association’s Legislative Committee which reviews and initiates legislation purchase flood insurance, the county
designed to more effectively prosecute criminals and prevent crime. must have an ordinance.