You can do lots of things with money. You can help someone in need. You can buy a cat. And with enough of it, you can save the old Cook County Hospital Building.
A big step in the direction of saving that structure is coming from the State of Illinois, which has chosen the vacant hospital building to receive three million dollars in tax credits for its rehabilitation.
The money comes through the Illinois Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program, which “provides a state income-tax credit equal to 25% of a project’s Qualified Rehabilitation Expenditures (QREs), not to exceed $3 million, to owners of certified historic structures who undertake certified rehabilitations.”
This is a new program, and the first year it is awarding money. The program is slated to run through 2023.
Twenty-four buildings across the state were vying for a share of $9.75 million being allocated for preservation projects this year— a dozen in Chicago, and the remainder elsewhere in Illinois. Three other buildings received money from the program. They are in Belleville, Hines, and Paris.
The Chicago buildings that didn’t get anything in this round may be still be able to get money the next time. Some of the names will likely be familiar to you:
- Anthony Overton Elementary School in Bronzeville
- Hotel Surrey in Uptown
- Hotel Warren in Uptown
- ICA GreenRise Learning Laboratory in Uptown
- The IIT Main Building in Bronzeville
- Lathrop Homes
- The former Lawson House YMCA in the Gold Coast
- The Mark Twain Hotel in the Gold Coast
- The Shoreline Apartments in South Shore
- The West Pullman Elementary School
Location: 1835 West Harrison Street, Illinois Medical District
Editor founded the Chicago Architecture Blog in 2003, after a long career in journalism. He can be reached at chicagoarchitectureinfo@gmail.com.
