A few years ago I took a walk with Veronica Hamel.
The former star of “Hill Street Blues” was in town performing in a play.
During this walk/interview I suggested that we take a cab over to see the Maxwell Street police station house that was featured in the opening shots of “Hill Street Blues.”
“It’s in Chicago?” Hamel asked. “I didn’t know. But no. I don’t want to see it. There are real troubles there that are none of my business. I’d feel like a Hollywood intruder.”
So we never got there, but I recalled this conversation when the news broke that the police station will be closing later this year and will be turned over to the University of Illinois.
The building was erected in 1888 and for the last four decades has served as headquarters for the department’s Vice Control, Gang Investigation and Intelligence sections. It was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
It has always been a gritty and sometimes sad place, filled with a lot of good cops and a ton of troubled people.
