Michael Reese Demolition to be "Fast Tracked"?

Blair Kaman had a post yesterday on his Chicago Tribune blog, The Skyline, about the city's invitation for contractors to submit bids on the demolition of the Michael Reese Hospital. As many of us know, this land is the proposed Olympic Village if Chicago is awarded the 2016 games. The city claims that this land will be developed regardless of whether or not Chicago gets the games.

The post mostly goes into the architectural conservation of some of the buildings since they were designed by world renowned architect, Walter Gropius. Of particular interest to us is the quote about the buildings being "fast tracked" and demolished prior to October:

Qualification submittals are due Thursday, April 23, according to the PBC's (Public Building Commission) Web site. Peters (president of Illinois Landmarks) said he expected the PBC to launch a request for proposals process soon afterwards in order to "fast track" demolition before October, when the IOC is scheduled to select one of four cities to host the 2016 Games.

This Peters guy is obviously not a supporter of the demolition, so we're not sure how much stock to put in his prediction of demolition starting prior to October. Regardless, food for thought.