Granite panels on Thompson Center deemed unstable; all panels in building's arcade to be removed

Granite panels on Thompson Center deemed unstable; all panels in building's arcade to be removed
By Blair Kamin
Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune
October 14, 2009
http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/theskyline/2009/10/granite-panels-on-thompson-center-deemed-unsable-all-panels-in-buildings-arcade-to-be-removed.html


After a piece of granite weighing 600 pounds fell to the sidewalk in August, about 1,000 granite panels will be removed from the street-level arcade that lines the exterior of the John R. Thompson Center, the main state office building in downtown Chicago, state officials announced Wednesday.

No one was injured when the panel fell to the Clark Street sidewalk at 11:30 a.m. on Aug. 27, a Thursday, but state officials already have constructed scaffolding around the Thompson Center to protect pedestrians and have removed seven additional panels deemed unstable.

The Capitol Development Board, which manages construction projects on state-owned buildings, will request proposals later in October to take down all of the stone panels, the agency said in a news release. An investigation suggested that corrision behind the panels, as well as "deficient granite and limestone backing pieces," had caused the first panel to fall and put the others at risk.

The removal project is expected to cost $1 million.

Designed by Chicago architect Helmut Jahn, the Thompson Center opened in 1985 as the State of Illinois Building. In a telephone interview, Jahn said that state officials had not yet contacted him about the problem and asked to be consulted. State officials subsequently said they would honor his request.

The troubled granite in the Thompson Center's arcade does not have an impact on the structural stability of the building because the arcade is a decorative element.

Work on the removal is expected to start at the end of October and should take about eight weeks. Some streets around the Thompson Center may be closed as the work is done.