Mayor: Elgin Tower must fix problems by June 30

If safety issues at the Elgin Tower Building aren't resolved by June 30, the city of Elgin will condemn it, Mayor David Kaptain said.

The 1929 downtown building suffers from numerous problems, most recently a deterioration of its facade, Kaptain said.

“Part of the facade had come down,” he said. “There's security tape around; it became a safety issue.”

The city has notified The Stickling Foundation, which owns the building, Kaptain said. Building manager Neil Pitcher was not immediately available for comment.

The building is down to one tenant, Kaptain said. It had about six tenants in January, down from a peak of 32.

The city last year filed a lawsuit in Kane County regarding safety violations at the building, which has long-standing issues regarding its sprinkler system and elevator, Kaptain said.

As per an ensuing court order, the building's owners were not supposed to rent out any more office space, Kaptain said.

“Evidently they violated the court order and gone ahead and started advertising for more people,” he said.

The city briefly shut off the building's water service in January until Pitcher paid the outstanding bill.

Wisconsin-based Gorman & Co. last year entered into a contract to buy and renovate the building. The contract's current status is unknown.