The demolition of Michael Reese Hospital on Chicago's South Side moves a step closer today. It's the deadline for contractors who want to tear down the buildings to submit qualifications. That's got preservationists gearing up to save it.

The city wants the hospital campus as the site for its Olympic Village, if Chicago wins the 2016 games. It wants to tear down everything but the main Reese building that dates to 1907.

Grahm Balkany's heading a group called the Gropius in Chicago Coalition that's trying to prevent that. Balkany's research shows that the famous Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius had a hand in designing at least eight buildings.

BALKANY: Those buildings are unique assets in Illinois, and Gropius being one of the greatest architects who ever lived, you should really think twice before you get rid of one of his works.

His group hopes to convince the city to save the Gropius buildings and reuse them in its Olympic plans.

The city has said saving the buildings isn't feasible, and that everything south of 29th Street has to go.