Joliet museum plans auditorium remodelling

JOLIET – The auditorium at the Joliet Area Historical Museum will reflect the “City of Steel and Stone” when a remodeling is done.

The museum auditorium will undergo a remodeling in the coming months, thanks to a $100,000 bequest from the late James Sczepaniak, a longtime Joliet Public Library board member and high school teacher also known for his passion for local history.

The plan is to make the auditorium a more suitable setting for the many events being held there, museum Executive Director Greg Peerbolte said.

“Right now, it looks like a basement, and we want it to look more like an auditorium,” Peerbolte said.

The steel-and-stone theme, reflecting Joliet’s history of steel mills and limestone quarries, will be presented in wall mountings, Peerbolte said. Museum artifacts also will be used to decorate what have been plain walls in the auditorium.

The auditorium also will get new flooring.

The remodeling is expected to be done by the end of March.

The auditorium upgrade reflects its growing use, Peerbolte said. The space was used last week for a Christmas concert, and it will be in use for the museum’s Black History Month programs in February.

Also, the museum is seeing growing demand for event rentals, including weddings and other parties. Peerbolte said the auditorium is an alternative indoor site when rooftop events have to be moved because of inclement weather. But the plain appearance of the auditorium today makes it less of an attraction for brides who plan weddings on the museum rooftop.

Peerbolte said some money from the Sczepaniak bequest also has been used for upgrades in the accounting system, so credit cards can be used at other spots than the front desk.

Sczepaniak, who died in November 2014, was known for his 35 years on the board of the Joliet Public Library, where he also served as president. He also taught social studies at Lockport Township High School and Romeoville High School.

Sczepaniak also was a member of the Joliet Area Historical Museum.

“I always saw him here,” Peerbolte said. “He was very passionate about Joliet history.”