Administrator gives updates on proposed county building projects

Kirsten Wisniewski | January 17, 2025

The Cook County Board of Commissioners held their first regular business meeting for 2025, and included in the meeting was an update on the assorted proposed building projects that the county is hoping to see progress on in the coming months.

Interim Administrator Rowan Watkins gave WTIP an update on the hiring process for a permanent administrator in addition to the proposed projects.

Hiring an administrator

Watkins stepped in to serve as interim administrator in October after former Administrator James Joerke took a leave of absence upon the sudden death of his wife. Joerke resigned one week later, and Watkins has remained in the position as the county began a search for a permanent replacement. The county board opted to hire DDA, an HR firm, to assist with the hiring process. DDA is the same company that the county used to hire Joerke.

The application window for the position closed on Jan. 15, and Watkins said that 33 candidates applied. Some of those candidates will be asked to record answers to interview questions for the commissioners to review. From there, the board may ask candidates to attend an in-person interview, planned at this time for March 5.

The Capital Improvement Plan

As the board works to move forward with hiring a new administrator, Watkins has been working to keep the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) projects on track. The plan includes a slew of deferred maintenance projects, as well as several potential major building projects.

Of the proposed building projects, a significant addition and renovation is slated for the Cook County Law Enforcement Center. The board commissioned architectural drawings based on the masterplan they accepted in September. During this phase of the planning, the architectural firm hired to work on the plans, BVK Group, and Johnson Wilson Constructors, the county’s construction manager at risk, have been working to create both the architectural plans, and to establish a guaranteed maximum price for the project.

Watkins said that the project is currently on track. He said, “We’re working on and continuing to narrow in on a final schematic design. But the timeline is still, February 25 the intent is to have a finished schematic design that the group will will bring to the county board for a decision to be made on.”

Courthouse basement renovation

While a larger project to renovate the courthouse has been proposed as a future element of the CIP, the board is also considering a smaller scale renovation option to more immediately address some of the county’s office space needs. Watkins said that official plans haven’t been made, yet, but that the county hopes to be able to make some changes to the identified area of the basement sooner rather than later.

Watkins said, “I think we’re, hoping to move pretty quickly on this, but obviously, we’re going through the process. And as soon as we have those designs, we’ll be bringing it to the board to to talk about funding and and the best way to move forward.”

Transfer station

An additional major construction project that the county is hoping to move forward this year is the transfer station that is planned in collaboration with North Shore Waste. Despite several changes to the project’s timeline based on stipulations attached to funding awarded by the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRR), Watkins said that he believes that the project is still on track. He told WTIP that the county is working to finalize designs for the transfer station.

WTIP’s Kirsten Wisniewski spoke with Interim Administrator Rowan Watkins about county project updates. Audio of that interview is below.