Chicago Tribune Editorial - Lazarus on Harrison Street
Chicago Tribune Editorial - Lazarus on Harrison Street
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
July 31, 2007
When we last looked in on the old Cook County Hospital, the patient was bruised and neglected but still bobbing and weaving well enough to avoid demolition by then-County Board President John Stroger. Now comes word that Stroger's son and successor, Todd, proposes a potentially excellent plan to preserve and rehab the stately building in ways that respect Chicago's history, taxpayers' dollars -- and common sense.
This is a triumph-in-the-making not only for preservationists, but also for the Chicagoans whose families got almost a century of good medical care at the legendary hospital on West Harrison Street. This also is a victory for Larry Suffredin and other county commissioners who've invested years of work in demonstrating how the old hospital can be reused.
John Stroger never advanced a compelling reason for razing a structure of such Beaux-Arts richness, structural strength and future promise. He spoke unconvincingly -- and, we concluded, disingenuously -- of trashing an important piece of Chicago's architectural heritage as the only way to create more green space on the county's Near West Side medical campus.
Several members of the County Board, including a few of John Stroger's allies, figured he wanted to swing the wrecking ball so drivers on the Eisenhower Expressway would have an unobstructed view of the county's new hospital. That's the institution named for ... John Stroger.
On Tuesday, county commissioners will discuss -- and probably send to their Construction Committee -- Todd Stroger's plan to move medical and administrative offices to the old hospital from current quarters in a dilapidated former nursing dormitory. The rehabbed hospital also would house medical libraries, a day-care center and other tenants.
How to pay the $140 million cost of redevelopment? The county could hand the project to a private developer and lease back space in the refurbished hospital. Suffredin says it may be more desirable -- and economical -- for the county to fund the project itself, using money set aside for medical campus redevelopment when the new hospital opened in 2002.
One strong argument for the rehab: It creates office space the county probably would have to construct from scratch to absorb the facilities now in the dilapidated nurses dormitory. Thus the hospital project should give county taxpayers a stunning gateway building to the city's large Medical District and a solution to a pressing office space problem -- all at a price lower than demolishing the old hospital and erecting a new building to house the medical offices.
We'll reserve final judgment on this project until we see the final plans (and until we learn which politically connected contractors get fat slices of the work). But Todd Stroger merits enthusiastic congrats for pursuing his own solution to a conundrum his father bollixed: What should become of Cook County Hospital?
One more thing: Under Todd Stroger's proposal, the nursing dorm would come down. That land, Suffredin says, would become green space. We hope John Stroger would approve.
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
July 31, 2007
When we last looked in on the old Cook County Hospital, the patient was bruised and neglected but still bobbing and weaving well enough to avoid demolition by then-County Board President John Stroger. Now comes word that Stroger's son and successor, Todd, proposes a potentially excellent plan to preserve and rehab the stately building in ways that respect Chicago's history, taxpayers' dollars -- and common sense.
This is a triumph-in-the-making not only for preservationists, but also for the Chicagoans whose families got almost a century of good medical care at the legendary hospital on West Harrison Street. This also is a victory for Larry Suffredin and other county commissioners who've invested years of work in demonstrating how the old hospital can be reused.
John Stroger never advanced a compelling reason for razing a structure of such Beaux-Arts richness, structural strength and future promise. He spoke unconvincingly -- and, we concluded, disingenuously -- of trashing an important piece of Chicago's architectural heritage as the only way to create more green space on the county's Near West Side medical campus.
Several members of the County Board, including a few of John Stroger's allies, figured he wanted to swing the wrecking ball so drivers on the Eisenhower Expressway would have an unobstructed view of the county's new hospital. That's the institution named for ... John Stroger.
On Tuesday, county commissioners will discuss -- and probably send to their Construction Committee -- Todd Stroger's plan to move medical and administrative offices to the old hospital from current quarters in a dilapidated former nursing dormitory. The rehabbed hospital also would house medical libraries, a day-care center and other tenants.
How to pay the $140 million cost of redevelopment? The county could hand the project to a private developer and lease back space in the refurbished hospital. Suffredin says it may be more desirable -- and economical -- for the county to fund the project itself, using money set aside for medical campus redevelopment when the new hospital opened in 2002.
One strong argument for the rehab: It creates office space the county probably would have to construct from scratch to absorb the facilities now in the dilapidated nurses dormitory. Thus the hospital project should give county taxpayers a stunning gateway building to the city's large Medical District and a solution to a pressing office space problem -- all at a price lower than demolishing the old hospital and erecting a new building to house the medical offices.
We'll reserve final judgment on this project until we see the final plans (and until we learn which politically connected contractors get fat slices of the work). But Todd Stroger merits enthusiastic congrats for pursuing his own solution to a conundrum his father bollixed: What should become of Cook County Hospital?
One more thing: Under Todd Stroger's proposal, the nursing dorm would come down. That land, Suffredin says, would become green space. We hope John Stroger would approve.
posted by Carlos T Mock @ 8:24 AM
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