Will County Courthouse Demolition Begins, Will Continue This Week

JOLIET, IL — As Joliet and Will County officials explore the idea of building a new joint city and county government campus on the site of the existing county courthouse, internal demolition on the 1969-era building began on Tuesday with exterior work scheduled to begin next month, a county spokesman told Patch on Tuesday.

Will County Executive Director of Communications Michael Theodore told Patch that work on the inside of the courthouse is scheduled to continue throughout this week. While much of the efforts to begin tearing the courthouse down will focus mostly on the interior parts of the structure this week, Theodore said more pieces of the outdoor of the building may be removed this week to support the removal of the internal structure.

County officials are anticipating that demolition of the building’s exterior will begin in early January after the holiday season, Theodore said on Tuesday.

Patch previously reported that American Demolition Corp. out of Carol Stream was awarded a $1.488 million contract to tear down the courthouse. Joliet businessman Hudson Hollister unsuccessfully attempted to save the courthouse, and plans for the building’s demolition began.

Patch broke the news that Joliet Mayor Terry D'Arcy and Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant are interested in pursuing a City of Joliet-Will County government campus on the site of the former courthouse property once all the demolition debris is removed.

The first step of the process included removing building systems and furniture from the building before the beginning stages of the internal demolition began on Tuesday.

The demolition of the four-story courthouse, which had previously been described as the “world’s ugliest” courthouse could take months, county officials said.

Patch broke the news in June that Bertino-Tarrant and her staff are working with D'Arcy and interim city manager Rod Tonelli to build a new Will County Government Campus on the site of the soon-to-be-demolished old Will County Courthouse.

"I definitely think it's something we have to look at," D'Arcy said in June of partnering with Bertino and Will County to create a Will County Government Campus in the middle of downtown Joliet. "The idea of a government campus makes sense in a growing county and community."

Patch Editor John Ferak contributed reporting