A proposal to build a new city-county government complex at the site of the old Will County Courthouse has been met with some backlash, and preservationists said it does not deter their efforts to save the building.

Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant on June 26 put out a news release announcing discussions with the city of Joliet for a city-county campus that would create a centralized and modernized complex for both units of government.

The announcement was issued just a few days before developers presented plans to a city commission for preserving the courthouse building in downtown Joliet and putting it to new use. It came with renderings showing what the modernized complex may look like, creating an impression that such a plan may already be underway.

But that’s not so, said Bertino-Tarrant and Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy, who was quoted extensively in the news release expressing support for the project.

“It was a vision, not a decision,” Bertino-Tarrant said this week after having faced some backlash from Will County Board members who are upset that the proposal was not brought to them before being made public.

Bertino-Tarrant said a handful of board members in favor of preserving the courthouse overreacted to the announcement.

“I’m not going to be able to build a multimillion-dollar building under their noses without them knowing,” she said.

D’Arcy, meanwhile, said any city commitment to such a project would require a lot of planning first.

“It’s so premature for us,” D’Arcy said. “It’s something we’re going to look at with the county. But the county is looking to find a building for themselves.”

D’Arcy said the city would need “a complete feasibility study and an economic study” before committing to a city-county complex.

“I wouldn’t do it without a whole lot of planning,” he said.

It’s the lack of planning that has some County Board members crying foul over the June 26 announcement.

Will County Board member Daniel Butler called it “a publicity stunt.”

“That’s the vision of the executive,” Butler said. “That is not with the approval of the County Board. That is a way of putting it out there to warm up everybody to the idea.”

Butler noted that one of the arguments against demolishing the old courthouse is that there is no plan for what to do with the property once the building is torn down.

“All of a sudden there’s these drawings and this design,” he said.

Bertino-Tarrant said her focus previously had been on demolition of the old courthouse. Preservationists who consider the courthouse a local landmark that reflects the Brutalist architectural movement in vogue when it was built in 1968 are trying to stop that demolition.

But proposals to preserve the courthouse “depend on an if-then” because a state law would have to be passed to overcome restrictions that now prohibit any non-public use of the land, Bertino-Tarrant said.

“To me, that’s not responsible planning,” she said.

The announcement of a potential city-county complex came two days before the Joliet Historic Preservation Commission heard proposals from private developers on how the courthouse could be put to new use.

The commission has effectively put a temporary hold on demolition while it prolongs a hearing on potential landmark status for the building. But the tactic can only stall demolition until October.

Until then, preservation advocates have been trying to persuade County Board members to reverse a previous decision to demolish the building and have made some inroads.

“The [June 26] announcement has not changed where we stand,” said Hudson Hollister, co-chair of the Courthouse Preservation Partnership. “When the county does fully explore redevelopment options, it will discover preserving this building is better for the county and better for the city.”

The unveiling of a possible city-county complex does not appear to have been a deciding factor in the debate over the future of the old courthouse.

When asked about what response she has received, Bertino-Tarrant said “kind of neutral.”