OAK FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Cook County plans to demolish seven buildings this year on the campus of Oak Forest Health Center in south suburban Chicago.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s office announced the plan Tuesday, saying the county “occupies too much space.”
Some of the buildings date back to 1910 when Cook County opened a poor farm on the site. It was a place to house the poor, elderly and disabled and put them to work.
A county hospital was closed there in 2011.
Cook County now estimates the Oak Forest buildings at more than 1 million square feet. About half is unused storage area or underused.
The county estimates that the demolition will avoid 10-year capital investment of more than $100 million, and reduce operating expenses by about $1.3 million per year.
