Home Business Insider REjournals WTTW/PBS Chicago Chicago magazine Block Club Chicago Curbed Chicago James R. Thompson Center Historical Society Corporate content Radio and Television appearances RealEstateNews.com Streetsblog Chicago

Developing a PR strategy for historic preservation advocacy

In the autumn of 2019, I formed the James R. Thompson Center Historical Society, an advocacy effort and public outreach campaign dedicated to raising awareness and interest in the embattled state-owned structure in the heart of Chicago's Loop, with Elizabeth Blasius and Jonathan Solomon. The idea was simple: Allow the public to see the space themselves with additional context from a veteran real estate reporter, an architectural historian and an architecture professor. 

The effort garnered immediate media attention and a number of stories in local outlets. Serving as the group's audio/visual lead and ad hoc publicist, I helped coordinate placements in numerous local media outlets, including the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, WBEZ, WTTW, and others. I also conceived and produced the project's "Conversations in the Food Court" podcast. The JRTCHS was tapped by Landmarks Illinois to draft the National Register of Historic Places Nomination for the Thompson Center in early 2020. 

WBEZ Chicago •

Renovating Chicago’s historic Thompson Center

The Thompson Center, was home to the Illinois state government outside Springfield. Google bought the 1.2 million-square-foot building back in 2022 for $105 million.

Chicago is rich with architectural history – and how long one leg of that history sticks around is now in the hands of Google. The tech giant purchased the Thompson Center in Chicago’s Loop in October 2022 with plans to breathe in new life.

Reset digs into that architectural history and learns more about its future.
Chicago Sun-Times •

Architect Helmut Jahn’s death reignites debate over sale of James R. Thompson Center

Arguing that the controversial Loop structure is Helmut Jahn’s definitive achievement, preservation advocates said Monday that the untimely death of the German architect “really does cement the argument that the Thompson Center should be preserved.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who put the building up for sale last week, on Monday said the state lost “a great artistic genius,” but the James R. Thompson Center doesn’t fall under the category of great, artistic work.

“It’s not the greatest example of his
WBBM •

Preservationists Hope For Thompson Center Reprieve

The James R. Thompson Center Historical Society is giving tours of the 1985 building, recognizing it will almost definitely be sold but hoping there will be enough public outcry to save it from the wrecking ball.

On the most recent tour: architecture classes at the School of the Art Institute, where Paul Dolick is a lecturer.

"The students are going to be challenged to examine the building as it is and for what it once stood for, but also to explore the potential of how it's going to move into the future,” he explains.
Curbed Chicago •

A group of scrappy preservationists hosts free tours of threatened Thompson Center

Under a surreal backdrop of swirling snow, a group of grassroots architectural buffs and dedicated preservationists gather in the soaring 17-story atrium of the James R. Thompson Center on Thursday afternoon. The bustling public space serves a refuge, civic center, and transit hub—but this gathering here is for a free tour of the most endangered postmodern building in Chicago.

The group grows to more than two dozen people, and one attendee arrives dressed up in a blue and pink model of the stat
WBEZ •

The Thompson Center Needs A Lot of Work Before It Can Be Sold

Blasius is one of the founders of the . Jonathan Solomon, AJ LaTrace, and Blasius are raising awareness about the architectural significance of the 17-story, Helmut Jahn-designed building that opened in 1985. Their advocacy is especially pressing now as the state of Illinois moves closer to selling the building.

Last April, the Illinois Senate passed a bill allowing the state to sell the Thompson Center . Talks of unloading the building started before Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker took office thi
WBBM •

Thompson Center Architectural Group Urges Historical Building Preservation Amid Impending Sale

A group of three people gathered historic materials advocating for Chicago's architectural heritage and the physical preservation of the Thompson Center.

The James R. Thompson Center Historical Society was formed after Governor Pritzker signed a law authorizing the sale of the building built in 1985. The three players pivotal in the launch are an educator, real estate reporter and an architectural historian.
Chicago Sun-Times •

Thompson Center fan club opposes sale: ‘Do we dare squander Chicago’s great architectural heritage?’

Is the James R. Thompson Center a postmodern architectural gem — or a cockroach-infested dump where office wastebaskets do double-duty catching rainwater from the leaky ceiling?

A group of three — an architect, real estate reporter and an architectural historian — have launched the James R. Thompson Center Historical Society “to encourage all to visit the building and contribute to the ongoing discussion of its past, present, and future in Chicago.”

The building at 100 W. Randolph St. has long
WTTW Chicago Tonight •

Preservationists Rally Around Thompson Center as Pritzker Prepares for Sale

The James R. Thompson Center is hard to miss. The 17-story, sloping glass structure occupies an entire city block in downtown Chicago.

Designed by architect Helmut Jahn in the postmodern style, the 1.2-million-square-foot building opened in 1985 as the State of Illinois Center. It houses offices for some 2,200 state employees, including Gov. J.B. Pritzker, whose suite is on the top floor. Public spaces on its lower levels include a food court, shops and busy Clark-Lake CTA station.

But the bui
Chicago Tribune •

Column: A piñata version of the Thompson Center is coming, but don’t expect candy to fall out

The James R. Thompson Center is both a landmark of postmodern architecture and an architectural piñata—a building many Chicagoans love to hate and probably wouldn’t mind beating with a stick.

On Monday, three historic preservationists trying to save the controversial state office building will open an exhibition in a gallery in the downtown Pedway that actually presents it as a piñata—not to foreshadow its demolition, they say, but to broaden the public’s understanding and (perhaps) appreciation of it.