A decrepit building at the corner of County Line Road and Stone Avenue is finally coming down this month.

The City Council appropriated money at its Tuesday meeting to allow the demolition to occur by Dec. 31.

In September 2024, the council approved shifting control over unsafe buildings from the building commissioner to the planning director in an attempt to speed the process of addressing the house and others like it.

Getting a house condemned so it can be razed “takes forever,” Councilwoman Gina Giese-Hurst said when that ordinance was introduced, so she wanted to speed the process.

Getting rid of an unsafe building requires a lot of steps, including title searches, hearings, chances for the property owner to bring it up to code, and other procedures that must be followed.

But after more than a year of complaints about the property, the decrepit home will finally be razed.

The house “is in dire need of being demolished,” Clerk-treasurer Liz Modesto said Tuesday.

The council also appointed Sonya Lindgren, program manager with the Planning and Community Development Department, to the Economic Development Commission.

That’s separate from the Redevelopment Commission, new City Attorney Dan Bartnicki explained. The EDC offers advice on economic development bonds like the ones for the six new residential TIF districts created this year. Those bonds were introduced Tuesday.

Lindgren’s job for the city made her a good candidate for the job, Bartnicki said.

Mayor Austin Bonta made it clear that she was OK with the appointment. “Have we ever given people jobs or titles without telling them first?”

Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. 

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/12/decrepit-portage-house-finally-being-razed/