Joliet commission to consider landmark status for Nowell Park buildings

JOLIET – Are the Nowell Park pool building and pavilion worth saving?

The Joliet Historic Preservation Commission toured the facilities last week and plans to discuss the matter at its March 25 meeting.

The pool building, unused for years, and the pavilion are not necessarily being torn down. But the Joliet Park District is looking at Nowell Park as the likely site for a future East Side recreational facility.

Hal Carlson, preservation commission member, said he would be concerned about taking actions that might get in the way of a future recreation center. But he noted that even the park district has not decided where to put the center.

“It’s going to be a hard one to figure out what to do,” Carlson said. “I personally don’t want to encumber another public agency.”

Carlson said there is some historic value to both Nowell Park buildings.

“In terms of history, the pool is a significant part of Joliet history,” said Carlson, noting he swam there in his younger days.

But the pool has been filled in, and the pool building has not been used in 20 years, he said.

The pavilion has strong elements of a Spanish architectural style that was prevalent in the early 20th Century. It is an open-air pavilion with a fireplace.

Whatever the commission decides would have to be approved by the Joliet City Council. But landmark status for the buildings could affect future redevelopment at Nowell Park.

Park District Executive Director Dominic Egizio said it’s too early to say where a recreational building would be built at Nowell Park and whether it could be worked around the two buildings.

While Egizio said a final decision has not been made on where an East Side recreational facility would go, he acknowledged Nowell Park is the likely spot.

“If we were going to put it somewhere other than Nowell Park, we’d have to acquire land,” Egizio said.

The park district does not plan to build the East Side facility until 2017 at the earliest, he said. But Egizio believes preliminary design plans will be created this year. And he hopes to share those with the public at community meetings aimed at shaping what would be included in the facility.