Thompson Center redesign proposal includes ‘super tower’

A nonprofit keen on saving the James R. Thompson Center from demolition has proposed a redesign of the building that features a “super tower” for residential and hotel uses.

Landmarks Illinois, a nonprofit that tries to save “endangered” buildings, said the building is locally significant for being the city’s best example of grand-scaled, postmodern architecture. The Thompson Center has made the nonprofit’s list of Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois two years in a row.

Gov. Bruce Rauner has tried to sell the Thompson Center, saying that the building needs an estimated $326 million in deferred maintenance.

But Mayor Rahm Emanuel blocked the sale, claiming the building’s busy Clark/Lake CTA station would cost $100 million to rebuild. Landmarks Illinois’ proposal would leave the CTA station intact.

In addition to new retail and office space, the proposal would turn the Thompson Center into a public space by removing the two-story entrance bays to create indoor-outdoor flow.