The board that governs McCormick Place voted Friday to clad the convention center`s new annex hall with all-aluminum wall panels rather than plastic-filled panels. The switch, which was recommended a week ago by construction supervisors, follows published reports that the plastic-filled aluminum panels are banned in New York and several other cities because their polyethylene core burns. Herbert Stade, chairman of the board`s expansion committee, said he remains convinced that the plastic-filled panels, called Alucobond, are safe. But he said the board can`t risk delaying the $205 million project, which is supposed to be finished by May, 1986, while the city analyzes the results of fire-testing of the panels. A spokesman for the manufacturer of Alucobond, Consolidated Aluminum Corp. of St. Louis, declined to say whether legal action will be taken against the convention center for making the switch.
