In an abrupt reversal, city officials have ruled that the building that housed the E2 nightclub should be demolished on an emergency basis.
The building was the site of the Feb. 2003 tragedy in which 21 people were killed and more than 50 injured in a stampede.
Developers have been seeking a permit to tear the South Loop building down to build a housing complex, but as recently as November that permit was denied, with city officials saying that the historic Motor Row building should be preserved.
According to the Department of Buildings, a new inspection conducted in Nov. 2024 found the building to be suffering from various structural issues, including a failure of the bow truss roof system, a partially collapsed roof, three feet of standing water in a basement and an open elevator shaft.
"I get the landmark thing, but I also get that 21 people were lost here and there should be some kind of memorial," Dawn Valenti said. Valenti's close friend lost her son that night, leading to her organization of vigils at the site for years.
Under city code, the building was ruled to be “an immediate threat to first responders and the public,” and demolition of the structure was ordered.
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That process began on Tuesday, with crews on scene working to dismantle and knock down the building.
It's an emotional process for the family of Antonio Myers, who died in the stampede.
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"I still miss him like it was yesterday," Myers' brother Alexceon said, who was also there that night.
Tuesday also marked what would have been Myers' 45th birthday.
On Feb. 17, 2003, security guards at the E2 nightclub used pepper spray to break up a fight. The deployed spray caused people to try to flee the area, but when they got to the bottom of the stairs, the inward-opening doors became jammed by the weight of those trying to flee.
In all, 21 people were killed in the stampede and more than 50 were injured.
For years, families of some of the victims and developers have been aiming to tear the structure down, but have met resistance from city officials.
