Maligned Thompson Center finds anti-sale cheering section: ‘Do we dare squander Chicago’s great architectural heritage?’

The Thompson Center in 2013. File Photo. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Is the James R. Thompson Center a postmodern architectural gem — or a cockroach-infested dump where office wastebaskets do double-duty catching rainwater from the leaky ceiling?

A group of three architectural experts and historians have launched the James R. Thompson Center Historical Society “to encourage all to visit the building and contribute to the ongoing discussion of its past, present, and future in Chicago.”

The building at 100 W. Randolph St. has long been a love-it-or-hate it part of Chicago history.

And Gov. J.B. Pritzker is not on Team Love It.

The governor is trying to sell it.

While the building — designed by Helmut Jahn in 1985 — is lauded for its innovative structure, it has long been criticized by state employees for its state of disrepair, including temperature problems, leaky ceilings and cockroach infestations. There’s also a permanent odor seeping up to the 16^th-floor offices of the governor and others from a lower level food court.

Food court in the Thompson Center in 2013. File Photo.

But the historical society — formed by Elizabeth Blasius, Jonathan Solomon, and AJ LaTrace — has a deep appreciation for the building, no matter what ends up happening to it.

“As a city known around the world for its contributions to architecture and design, Chicago also has an equally troubling history of discarding many of its most significant structures and public places. We ask a simple question: Do we dare squander Chicago’s great architectural heritage? Our city’s cultural heritage — and the Thompson Center itself — belongs to all Chicagoans,” the group says on their website.

A model of the proposed State of Illinois Center, unveiled in 1980 by Gov. Thompson. Thompson then called it the first office building of the year 2000. File Photo.

The group’s mission is to assemble, catalog and share historic material; “generate new affinities” among Chicagoans by “producing and sharing new material”; and advocating for the “physical preservation of the building while fully recognizing and understanding that the sale and demolition of the JRTC is a possible outcome.”

Interior of the Thompson Center in 2013. File Photo.

The group says on its website that it plans to hold an inaugural tour of the building’s public spaces on Oct. 17. It’s also planning a Halloween tour — encouraging tour-goers to “bring your favorite ‘80s outfit or costume” for a walk through the building’s lower atrium.

In April, Pritzker signed a measure that will make it easier to sell the long criticized state building. The legislation was passed by the Illinois General Assembly in 2017 but was never sent to then-Gov. Bruce Rauner due to a procedural hold.

That measure provided for the sale of the Thompson Center by a “competitive sealed proposal process within two years.” The buyer must also enter into an agreement with the city and the Chicago Transit Authority to maintain operations of the Clark and Lake station, which is one of the most complex and busy CTA stations in the city.

Pritzker has said he wants to sell the building to use it as “an asset to offset liabilities, possibly liabilities in the pension system.”

The governor’s office put out a request for proposals [RFP] on Aug. 28 to obtain project management and technical expertise about a sale of the historic building. Those proposals are due on Friday.

According to Pritzker’s office, the construction cost in 2016 was estimated to be more than $300 million to bring the building “into a good state of repair.” The operating expenses are also more than $17 million due to the building’s size.

After a contract is awarded, the vendor will help to sell the Thompson Center; assist with the relocation options for those in the building; help negotiate the state ownership stake at the alternative site; help the state assess its Chicago real estate portfolio and provide pre-development project management services.

Wastebaskets capture rainwater at the Thompson Center on Tuesday.

In the event of a sale, employees at the Thompson Center — who have often complained about its underutilization and maintenance issues — will be moved to the Michael A. Bilandic building across the street, and “other under-utilized, state-owned or rented facilities,” the governor’s office said. About 2,200 state employees work in the building.

Last month, the governor’s office announced that Pritzker had paid $275,000 for a governor’s office revamp in the building, including carpeting, paint and ceiling tile work.

“The Governor’s Office at the Thompson Center was in a very sad state of disrepair, and the Pritzkers paid personally to replace decades-old carpeting and repaint so that the space would no longer be embarrassing,” Pritzker’s spokeswoman Emily Bittner said last month in explaining the renovations after decades of neglect.