On the evening of November 3, Chicago’s James R. Thompson Center reopened its doors to the public after being closed for close to a year in preparation for a sweeping—and character-stripping, some worry—corporate overhaul in which the Helmut Jahn-designed Postmodernist “People’s Palace” will emerge circa 2026, re-skinned and rejuvenated, as the Windy City headquarters of Google.

“We’re going to tear down the building to its structural height, and then redo it with material that’s energy-efficient,” explained Quintin E. Primo III, chairman and CEO of project co-developer Capri Investment Group, during a press tour held earlier that afternoon in the building, which was completed in 1985 as Illinois’  satellite state capitol and was put up for sale (again) by the state in 2019. “While the building is being taken private, this space that you’re in, the rotunda, will still be part of the public realm.”