Demo Of Old Will County Courthouse Hits Its Stride: 4 Photos

JOLIET, IL — Joliet and Will County residents often like to complain about some of the projects that their public officials and politicians choose to spend their tax dollars on, but very few people are complaining about Will County's $1.5 million expense to tear down the old Will County Courthouse in downtown Joliet.

On Thursday, it was evident that the American Demolition Company is starting to make significant progress tearing apart the four-story concrete monster of a building that opened in 1969. While the late Will County Executive Larry Walsh Sr. was still in office, Will County's politicians sat around and took no action to remove the courthouse.

During that period of inactivity, downtown Joliet businessman Hudson Hollister led an unpopular movement to save the old Will County Courthouse from the wrecking ball, prolonging the inevitable.

In the end, Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant came to the rescue. She moved the project along, and she was responsible for obtaining the contract to bring American Demolition to Joliet. The Carol Stream-based demo company began with interior demolition work in December. Now that February is almost over, the old courthouse is finally starting to collapse.

It was an ugly building for decades, and that's why the demolition is such a beautiful event to witness, don't you agree?