Vacated U.S. Steel site in Joliet remains ‘area of concern’ for city

When a dead body was found at the old U.S. Steel plant this month, it marked the 31st time Joliet police were called to the site since 2015.

The abandoned buildings at the property on Collins Street have attracted trespassers and burglars, some of whom left in police custody or in an ambulance.

In February, police patrolling the area saw smoke and went onto the U.S. Steel property where they found several small fires inside an abandoned building. They also found stripped copper wire, an all-terrain vehicle, power saws, a generator and an ax. Eventually, two suspects were arrested for burglary.

In March 2023, police and firefighters searched the U.S. Steel grounds for two hours after getting a mysterious call of a man injured in a fall before before they found him and took him to the hospital.

Most of the police calls to the site have not been that serious.

Out of the 31 calls since 2015, only 11 led to a police report being filed, said Sgt. Dwayne English, spokesman for the Joliet Police Department.

Most of the incidents involved theft, burglary, trespassing and criminal damage to property, English said.

“Our officers have made arrests on the property for burglary, trespassing, and possession of a controlled substance,” he said.

The site was last used for steel production in 2001. Between then and and 2015, police filed 21 reports from the site, again mostly for theft, trespassing and vandalism.

But in 2011 one trespasser suffered serious injuries after falling through a roof onto a concrete floor 50 feet below.

The July 2 discovery of the body of Warren Baker, 44, of Joliet floating in an old pump house was one more sign of trouble at the site. Baker’s body was discovered by trespassers.

“Signs indicating that trespassing is prohibited are posted throughout the property,” U.S. Steel spokeswoman Amanda Malkowski said in an email response to a question about security measures at the Joliet property. “Entryways are also closed and locked. U. S. Steel is working with local authorities to prevent trespassing at the property.”

What to do about the old U.S. Steel site has been an unresolved question at least since former Mayor Tom Giarrante made redevelopment of the site a major goal in his successful 2011 campaign.

The city still is looking for answers, City Manager Beth Beatty said.

“Our police department and our fire department know it’s been an area of concern,” Beatty said. “We are in discussions with U.S. Steel about what we can do.”

But the future of the property is on hold because of a pending sale of U.S. Steel to Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel, she said.

Mayor Terry D’Arcy in his 2023 campaign for mayor talked about converting the site to a youth sports complex, a plan that could face challenges because of environmental conditions.

Former Mayor Bob O’Dekirk when running for reelection in 2023 said the city was on the verge of bringing an automobile recycling operation to the U.S. Steel property. But that project died for lack of City Council support after O’Dekirk lost the election.

“The neighborhood wasn’t thrilled with that idea,” Collins Street Neighborhood Council President Tanya Arias said. “We are considered a neighborhood here. We are not a dumping-ville.”

Arias likes the idea of a youth sport complex but also expressed concern about pollution on the site.

In the meantime, she said, problems at the U.S. Steel site are similar to those at the former Joliet Correctional Center.

The prison, located just north on Collins Street, closed in 2002 and was subject to repeated break-ins, vandalism and even arson fires before the city in 2017 decided to lease it from the state and convert it into a destination site now known as the Old Joliet Prison.

Arias said neighbors would at least like to see U.S. Steel clean up the site and make it safer.

“We definitely have had issues with the U.S. Steel site,” Arias said. “It’s been abandoned for quite some time. It’s been historical that there have been incidents there.”