While posing a major inconvenience to the building's tenants, it also has created chaos to Downtown traffic flow--auto, pedestrian as well as rapid transit. Elevated rail "El" tracks run overhead on Wells Street, so 188 W. Randolph St.'s structural problems are disrupting train service on three lines. One-block stretches of Randolph and Wells streets are closed to traffic. Meanwhile, traffic already is a mess as a result of the $200-million Wacker Drive reconstruction project beginning two blocks away.

Although some of the building's tenants say the housing court's decision was "overkill," city officials say it could be a matter of life and death. "We could've done one of two things," says Department of Buildings Commissioner Mary B. Richardson-Lowry. "We could've waited until someone was seriously hurt or killed, or we could've asked ourselves what do we do to make sure the public is safe."

The city has asked the owner of the building, Telegraph Properties, to repair the falling terra and provide adequate canopies over the sidewalk. The city claimed in court that Telegraph Properties, which bought the property four years ago for $6.1 million, have failed to do so.

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