Blair Kamin weighs in on the Thompson center. He favors reuse.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...14-column.html
Spare Jahn's Thompson Center from Rauner's death sentence
Blair Kamin
October 14, 2015, 7:03 PM
Not so fast, Gov. Rauner.
In announcing that he wants the state to sell the Helmut Jahn-designed James R. Thompson Center in Chicago's Loop, the private-equity-investor-turned-governor all but endorsed its demolition. The building, he opined on Tuesday, is "just not usable for much of anything."
But handing down a death sentence for Jahn's 30-year-old postmodern glitter palace is both premature and ill-informed. By viewing the building's future through the prism of a spreadsheet, the governor is ignoring the vital role it plays in the life of the Loop — and how renovation could transform it into a far more appealing civic hub than it is today.
Renovation and repurposing, in short, should be considered before demolition.
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