Joliet Steel Mill Main Office Building: a preventable loss

(Joliet Steel Mill Main Office destroyed by a fire in September 2024. Credit Candace Johnson-Wheeler.)


February 3, 2025
By Quinn Adamowski, Regional Advocacy Manager

(This article originally appeared in our January 2025 edition of our print newsletter, The Arch. Read The Arch here.)



The Joliet Steel Mill Main Office building, an iconic structure nestled near the I&M Canal and Old Joliet Prison, once served as the gateway to a bustling industrial campus. After the mill’s closure in 1983, the building stood as a testament to Joliet’s rich industrial heritage. However, years of neglect and disrepair led Landmarks Illinois to include it on our 2021 Most Endangered Historic Places list. U.S. Steel replaced the roof in 2022 but then allowed the rest of the building to fall further into decay. On September 7, 2024, after 41 years of abandonment and vacancy, the irreplaceable structure was destroyed in a preventable blaze.

The demise of the Main Office building is not unique. Owned by governments, corporations and individuals, vacant and abandoned buildings are ubiquitous across Illinois’ urban, suburban and rural landscapes. At a minimum, these ignored structures eventually become victims of demolition by neglect. At worst, they become magnets for vandalism and crime, leading to blight that erodes the quality of life for nearby residents, businesses and other building owners. When they are not appropriately maintained by their owners or when they are targeted by unsavory forces, they can become eyesores or hazards to communities, transforming them from assets to liabilities.



(Joliet Steel Mill Main Office building pictured in 2021.)



The reasons behind such neglect are complex, ranging from a lack of creative thinking to the lack of coordinated efforts between public and private entities. Often, these structures are overlooked due to immediate concerns like business attraction or housing development when, in fact, they can be leveraged to achieve both.

Communities should not accept and exacerbate the status quo by ignoring the problem of vacancy and abandonment and continuing to allow historic properties to meet the same fate as the Joliet Steel Mill Main Office building. Our historic places hold untapped potential for revitalization, economic development, and environmentally friendly, sustainable community renewal. Local governments should prioritize their preservation and recognize the multifaceted benefits they offer. Indeed, in places like Jacksonville, Marion, Aledo and Petersburg, there is clear evidence that the prioritization of adaptive reuse of historic properties can have catalytic impacts on community development.

Historic preservation tax credits, tax abatement, façade programs and local incentives such as TIF help to incentivize redevelopment of historic properties with much success. However, these incentives do not resolve the larger dilemma of abandonment and vacancy. There are proactive actions that could assist in reversing the decades-long trend of buildings hopelessly deteriorating and being transformed into liabilities. They include:

  • The state should adopt legislation that requires all local governments to adopt building codes. Local governments need to enforce codes and ordinances to require owners to maintain their properties, including implementing fines and penalties for lack of action on properties.
  • The state should adopt legislation for commercial properties that is modeled after the Abandoned Housing Rehabilitation Act.
  • Government entities should prioritize identifying new uses for buildings they own before they vacate them, including engaging the community and hiring consultants to conduct adaptive reuse studies.
  • Illinois would benefit from an extensive network of landbanks and community development corporations that can acquire, manage and repurpose vacant and abandoned properties.
  • Federal and state historic preservation tax credits need to become more accessible.

By recognizing the untapped potential of historic properties and implementing proactive measures, towns can transform these buildings from burdens into assets, revitalizing their communities and fostering sustainable development.

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