A circular healthcare facility designed by American architect Bertrand Goldberg is at risk of demolition in Illinois after being closed for more than 20 years, but is “worth preserving” according to Goldberg’s son.
In late 2024, the Chicago Sun Times reported that the cylindrical Elgin Mental Health Center Medical and Surgical designed by well-known architect Bertrand Goldberg building was listed for demolition by the Illinois Department of Human Services due to structural hazards and asbestos, years after its closure in 2002.
Completed in 1967 by Goldberg, best known for his design of the Marina City skyscrapers in Chicago, the building consists of a four-storey circular tower resting upon a square base. Archways surround the building at ground level, while the body of the building is clad in glass and external louvres.
“It’s very unusual in several ways,” architect Geoffrey Goldberg, son of Bertrand, told Dezeen. “Overall, it’s well worth preserving for the legacy. Whether that convinces anyone from a preservation or utility viewpoint is another matter.”
The Medical and Surgical building is part of the wider Elgin Mental Health Center, a 100-acre campus outside of Chicago that opened in the late 1870s, serving a variety of functions such as a mental health facility, operating as a farm and veterans facility throughout its history.
Inside, the building reflects its circular exterior and features a radial floor plan.
A snaking breezeway connects the building to a nearby brick laundry building, also designed and completed by Goldberg in the 1960s. Like the neighbouring Medical and Surgical building, it is also in disuse.
At its largest, the Elgin Mental Health Center covered 1,139 acres (461 hectres) after World War II and served a maximum of 7,700 patients in the 1950s. A portion of the Center still operates today, but much of the original campus was demolished between the 1990s and early 2000s as the buildings fell into disrepair.
As of late 2024, there is no set timeline for the demolition of the Surgical and Medical building.
Born in Chicago in 1913, architect Bertrand Goldberg studied at the Bauhaus and worked for Ludwig Mies van der Rohe before returning to the US. The fluted, concrete Marina City towers in downtown Chicago are one of the city’s most recognizable works.
Other news in Chicago includes the commencing of construction on the SOM skyscrapers on a Chicago site that has faced numerous setbacks and delays. Meanwhile, a Frank Lloyd Wright tower in Oklahoma has been embroiled in a legal battle over the preservation of its original furniture.
The photography is by Geoffrey Goldberg unless otherwise stated.
