Cook County to raze buildings at former Oak Forest Hospital

Redevelopment of the former Oak Forest Hospital will begin in the coming months as Cook County begins a three-year program to demolish 50 buildings on the 153-acre site.

Work to tear down an initial 11 buildings is to begin in September, with another 29 slated to be razed starting next year, and county officials said a series of community meetings, newsletters and a dedicated website will keep residents informed about the project’s status.

The county said parts of the campus are priorities for preservation, including old growth oak savanna at the northwest corner, closest to the intersection of 159th Street and Cicero Avenue, with trees estimated to be more than two centuries old.

Elsewhere on the grounds, a team of arborists has worked to identify trees that should be saved, with demolition plans designed to remove a minimal number, according to the county.

Places of worship on the campus that catered to staff and the ill, such as Sacred Heart Chapel, shuttered in fall 2018, will also be preserved. The chapel is surrounded by structures slated for demolition, and work will ensure the demolition doesn’t affect the chapel, officials said.

The Cook County archives and records office also has completed extensive work to remove and preserve artifacts, documents and other important materials, officials said.

There is also a burial site which includes remains of victims of the 1918 flu pandemic, and that area won’t be touched, according to the county.

The property, opened in 1853, initially was a poor farm for Chicago’s indigent and sanitarium for tuberculosis patients, then later a full-service hospital.

The county’s Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security will continue to have a presence, and two buildings will be erected to support the county’s bureau of technology, which already operates there, according to the county.

The campus was home to the 600-bed Oak Forest Hospital, which not only provided inpatient care in the south suburbs but was a training ground for thousands of health care workers.

Cook County’s Health and Hospitals System, after Oak Forest Hospital closed in 2011, continued to offer outpatient services at the campus. They were relocated to Blue Island in June 2020.

The Oak Forest campus is bordered by the Cook County Forest Preserve District’s 455-acre Midlothian Meadows on the north side of 159th and east of Cicero, as well as the district’s Oak Forest Heritage Preserve to the east. The district purchased the 176-acre site for $15 million in 2010.

The county estimates demolition and remediation will cost about $41.4 million.

According to the county, abatement is going to be a big part of the demolition process.

Earl Manning, director of capital planning for the bureau, said during an online meeting Wednesday “asbestos and lead were prominent in building materials” used throughout the campus.

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Any hazardous materials will be removed before demolition starts, and contractors will use water cannons to soak down structures in an effort to minimize dust, Manning said.

Monitors gauging air quality will be in place during the process, and monitoring reports will be posted at cookcountyil.gov/oakforest.

Manning said a hotline and email will be set up for residents who live nearby to voice any concerns.

He said that demolition work won’t involve the use of explosives and is expected to take place from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, but that there could be rare exceptions where contractors need to work on weekends.

Following the demolition, restoration is expected to continue in 2026 to prepare the campus for other uses.

No firm proposals are on the table for reuse, and the county is “beginning a robust community engagement process” to gather ideas, said Audrey Jonas, spokeswoman for the bureau of asset management.

mnolan@tribpub.com