THOMPSON CENTER ALWAYS A MONEY PIT

We had the great luck three years ago to catch an impromptu lunchtime recital in the Loop by the soprano Renee Fleming and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

What a treat, we thought, as their music soared in the atrium of the Thompson Center. What a wonderful use of a public space.

Only later did we learn that not everybody agreed — not if they actually had to work in that building. Sound bounces around in the Thompson Center like a pinball, whether it comes from angry demonstrators or great musical artists. And given the building’s aggressively democratic open design, good luck finding a door to close.

The point here is that the Thompson Center, the State of Illinois’ main office building in Chicago, has always been a dysfunctional mess, and Gov. Bruce Rauner is on firm ground in proposing to sell it, though that likely means it would be torn down.

We have a million questions about the details of such a sale. It would have to be negotiated in such a way that Illinois taxpayers are clear winners far into the future. We have seen the stupidity of selling off a public asset, such as Chicago’s parking meter business, for a one-time windfall of cash.

But while the Thompson Center is not without its charms, beginning with an interior that dazzles firsttime visitors, it has never worked right.

Employees continue to complain that the largely glass structure gets too hot in summer and too cold in winter, despite renovations, and heating and cooling costs remain exorbitant. Maybe that’s to be expected in a 980,000-square-foot building largely given over to open air. Offices are tucked along the periphery, as if dramatic views and not people are the point.

The building is also falling apart. A granite panel fell off the outside in 2009. Wiring and electricity are dated. The roof leaks regularly, forcing janitors to put out buckets.

Even if Illinois could come up with the $100 million necessary for deferred maintainance, Rauner says, the Thompson Center would continue to cost twice as much as any other state building to operate. This makes no sense for a state that is beyond broke.

Selling the building, the governor says, could save taxpayers up to $12 million a year. A new building on the site could bring in $20 million a year in new state and city taxes.

If somebody can figure out a financially sound way to save the Thompson Center, terrific. Nobody who takes pride in Chicago’s tradition of architectural boldness can take pleasure in razing such a distinctive structure.

But the Thompson Center has been a functional failure for 30 years. And it’s hard to see how a private owner, faced with the same high costs, could successfully convert it to other uses.

We’d love to be wrong about that.