Can shuttered Cook County Hospital be resuscitated as rehabbed housing? Old hospital buildings,
like the long-term benefits baby boomers once expected from Medicare,
seem to be on their way to extinction. In recent years,
dozens of private hospitals from coast to coast have fallen to the
wrecking ball to make way for expressways, office complexes, shopping
centers and new housing developments. The vintage Cook
County Hospital, at 1835 W. Harrison in the heart of the Near West
Side’s Medical District, is the latest candidate for demolition.
Designed by famed architect Richard Schmidt and erected over a period
of years starting in 1913, the now shuttered two-block-long hospital
features impressive fluted columns and a Beaux Art-style brick, granite
and terra cotta façade festooned with classic detail. “The old
hospital is a wedding cake of a building that will never be duplicated.
It is an eight-story fortress with walls 24 inches thick at the base.
It could have lasted 1,000 years,” noted long-time Near West
Side resident and preservationist William Lavicka, president of Historic
Boulevard Services. Although Cook
County Hospital lacks official historic landmark status, Lavicka points
out that the building is revered by the medical community and is considered
a monument to the more than two million people born there, including
the late Mayor Harold Washington. “Cook County
Hospital is important to preserve because it represents part of the
city’s poor and immigrant population’s past,” Lavicka
said. “Historically, Chicago had two designated places of diversity
– this hospital and Maxwell Street. Now it is likely that both
destinations will become part of ‘Lost Chicago.’” “In any other
American city, it would be a civic treasure,” noted Dr. Cory
Franklin, of the new John H. Stroger Hospital. “In Europe, where
buildings like Cook County Hospital are venerated, it would be steam
cleaned, made pristine and renovated.” Regardless, Cook
County Board President John Stroger and several other commissioners
are adamant in their plan to demolish the 90-year-old building and
neutralize its asbestos at an estimated cost to the taxpayers of $20
million to $30 million to clear the way for another use – maybe
a park or a parking garage. Preservationists
suggest Cook County Hospital could be converted to much needed medical
offices, assisted-care housing, other health-related facilities or
market-rate condominiums priced at up to $250 per square foot. The
conversion cost is estimated at $70 million to $80 million. However,
the renovation has the potential to generate tens of thousands of
dollars in property tax revenue. The Landmarks
Preservation Council of Illinois has proposed that Cook County turn
the building over to private developers for the nominal fee of $1
a year. Utilizing a mix of city and federal preservation subsidies
and tax credits plus private investment, developers could convert
the hospital into a mix of 320 loft residential units, a health and
wellness facility and a 150-car parking garage. Historic renovation
tax credits could amount to $20 million, and the county would save
up to $30 million in demolition costs. This is a strong argument for
preservation. Not all of Chicago’s
historic hospitals have met with the wrecking ball. In 1997, a guardian
angel swooped down to preserve the historic St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
Hospital, built after the turn of the century overlooking a in the
University Village neighborhood on the Near West Side. St. Cabrini Hospital
was reborn as loft condominiums in the Columbus on the Park development
because of the creativity and perseverance of veteran developers Harold
and Gerry Lichterman, who are well known for both their preservation
work and new residential developments. St. Cabrini Hospital
was contending with problems affecting practically every medical facility
nationwide. Dwindling revenues due to tighter federal reimbursements
for Medicare patients have hurt budgets. In addition, technological
developments and innovations in the medical industry in recent years
greatly reduced the need for in-patient care and put more emphasis
on outpatient treatment. Several of the
city’s vintage hospital buildings, including Augustana Hospital
in Lincoln Park and Henrotin Hospital on the Near North Side, were
shuttered in recent years and later, razed to make way for luxury
housing developments. |