This has been a fun and nostalgic thread for me.

My memories of the Montgomery Wards building go back to 1952, and the old courthouse - jail was not on the horizon. It was gone long before Pei destroyed DT.

As for the Steffan's Building, I spent one day in the summer of 1968 assembling frozen pizzas there for Manpower. Pay scale - $1.50 per hour. I remember the building had high ceilings, thick masonry walls and lots of freezer rooms. I'm not an architect, but I don't think it would be economically feasible to make a hotel out of it.

If the Steffan's building is razed, its replacement should be all brick, in my opinion.