Madison County approves purchasing 5 Downtown Wood River buildings for offices
EDWARDSVILLE - Chris Slusser started his life's journey in the old Wood River Township Hospital but said Wednesday that it's time for Madison County to leave the aging building behind.
"I have a sentimental attachment to that building because I was born there, and I was the last chairman of the hospital board when we closed out the taxing district," said Slusser, the County Board chairman, at Wednesday's Madison County Board meeting.
On Wednesday, County Board members unanimously approved resolutions to acquire five buildings in Downtown Wood River in order to move county offices out of the old hospital.
"I live in Wood River. I would have loved to save that building, and there's a possibility that someone will be interested in that building," Slusser said. "But it became a maintenance nightmare, and it was way more expensive to stay there."
The County Board approved the purchase of 18 W. Ferguson Ave., 34 W. Ferguson Ave., 33 W. Madison Ave., 176 S. Sixth St., and 203 S. Sixth St., for a total of $763,478.11. Plans to renovate those buildings to house county offices are expected to cost about $12 million.
The board's Central Services and Finance committees had approved the purchases earlier.
Madison County to buy office buildings with state-backed funding
Slusser has previously said that upkeep and utility costs at the Wood River Township Hospital facility are prohibitive, with many of the mechanical systems outdated, failing, or not up to current code. He pointed out it has been costing the county about $4 million a year just to heat the building.
"We only occupy about one-quarter of the building, so it makes sense," he said. "(Estimates have) been upward of $40 million to renovate an entire building that we were only going to use 25% of our office space."
Slusser touted the advantages of moving county operations into the buildings it will now purchase.
"We'll get our folks in a more convenient spot, in a safer building with easier access for parking, which is nice," he said. "This will look like these buildings are old now, but they will look like brand-new office space by the time they're done.
"We were able to get these buildings, as you can tell, at a very reasonable price," Slusser told the board. "We still have a long way to go. This is just the first initial step."
The County Board chairman also said that while no official announcement has been made yet, state Sen. Erica Harriss has secured state funding to purchase the building at 34 W. Ferguson Ave.
"So, that money will come from the state," he said. "We'll appropriate the money, but that money will come back in from the state to cover the cost."
Madison County cites transit access, central location for move
Among the advantages of moving county operations into the buildings being purchased, Slusser noted they are adjacent to the Madison County Transit bus station in Downtown Wood River.
"These offices serve a lot of low-income people," he said. "About 80% of the people that they serve live below the bluffs between Alton and Granite City."
He pointed out that the new buildings are centrally located with convenient access to Illinois Routes 3, 111, 143, and 255.
"It's all right here," he said. "So, I think it's going to be a win-win for everyone. And if we make this move, we look at it as an economic development move, as well.
"Out of all the choices that we made and the options that we had, this was the best."
Wood River Township Hospital opened in 1949 and closed in 2000. Madison County took over the building soon after. It currently houses a number of county offices, including the Health Department, the County Morgue, Employment and Training, 911, Child Advocacy Center and Emergency Management, with about 80 people working in the building.
The cost of the move will be paid out of the county's Capital Projects Fund. The timeline calls for closing on the buildings by the end of this summer and starting actual renovations in the newly purchased structures by the start of 2027.
If the former hospital must eventually be demolished, the cost is expected to be in the $7 million to $10 million range, with $3 million going toward asbestos abatement.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed the number of buildings being purchased. Madison County is purchasing five buildings in Downtown Wood River. The addresses of the buildings being purchased are 18 W. Ferguson Ave., 34 W. Ferguson Ave., 33 W. Madison Ave., 176 S. Sixth St., and 203 S. Sixth St., for a total of $763,478.11
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