Joliet Park District looks to reopen Inwood Golf Course on Thursday

The Joliet Park District on Thursday plans to reopen the front nine holes of the Inwood Golf Course and four of the baseball fields at the Inwood Athletic Complex as it recovers from the wild winds that swept through the area Monday night.

Park district facilities became the latest public venues to be shut down by the one-two punch of stormy weather that hit Joliet on Sunday morning and Monday night.

The Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66 and the Joliet Junior College City Center Campus, both of which are downtown, have been temporarily but indefinitely closed since Sunday morning storm damage. High winds damaged JJC’s rooftop heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, blowing part of it onto the roof of the museum.

We’ve never seen anything like this.”

—  Brad Staab, Joliet Park District executive director

The park district on Tuesday also shut down Pilcher Park and the Nowell Park Recreation Center because of power outages. The Nowell Park Recreation Center has reopened, but Pilcher Park still awaits the return of power.

“The park is closed because we have electronic gates, and there’s still no power out there,” park district Executive Director Brad Staab said Wednesday afternoon.

The most severe damage was on the Inwood Golf Course, where dozens of trees were destroyed or damaged by the high winds and possibly a tornado that tore through the area.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” Staab said.

He could not estimate when Inwood Golf Course would fully reopen.

“It looks like we’re going to open the front nine [Thursday] and then work on the back nine,” Staab said. “Most of the damage is in the back nine.”

The same storm also tore down fences at two of the six baseball fields at the Inwood Athletic Campus, where there have been no games since, but play could resume Thursday.

“I think we’re going to have four fields ready to go [Thursday],” Staab said.

Meanwhile, classes normally held at the JJC City Center Campus are being held virtually.

“The building will remain closed to public access until further notice,” JJC said in a statement issued Tuesday. “All other JJC campuses will operate normally.”

The Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66 announced Monday that it was temporarily closed and set no estimated reopening date as it prepares to repair damage to its roof and facade.

The museum has opened what it called a “pop-up location” nearby at the University of St. Francis Art Gallery at 25 E. Van Buren St.