Joliet taking steps toward repurposing former U.S. Steel site

City and U.S. Steel officials said they are moving ahead with plans for a new use of the company’s Joliet site, which is at least seeing some progress on the perimeter.

Pilsen Wellness Center this week presented their plans for using the building that once provided steelworkers with a credit union.

The former New Century Federal Credit Union building at 971 Collins St. will become an office building for mental health services if the Pilsen plan gets final city approval.

A mental health clinic may be a far cry from the youth sports complex that Mayor Terry D’Arcy would like to see built someday on the 51-acre steel mill site.

But a Pilsen Wellness Center may fit into the city’s larger plans for the stretch of Collins Street.

“That would be great,” Paul Naranjo, assistant to the CEO at Pilsen, said when asked about the possibility of a sports complex next door. “We offer services for youth.”

Naranjo said Pilsen at times sponsors soccer tournaments, organizes Zumba classes, and gets involved in youth sports as part of its wellness mission.

For now, their plans to put a building associated with the steel mill to use at least promises to take care of one vacancy.

“They had to identify a lot of what’s underground before they start tearing down buildings. Some of that serves parallel properties and contiguous properties.”

—  Terry D'Arcy, mayor of Joliet

The Pilsen building is next door to the site of the U.S. Steel Main Office Building, which burned down in September.

The landmark, limestone building from the 19th Century was the one structure the city wanted to save on the U.S. Steel site, which is largely comprised of decaying structures with rusting steel or aluminum siding.

After the fire, D’Arcy said U.S. Steel was proceeding with demolition permits for the remaining buildings, a sign of progress for an old industrial site that has been subject to trespassers and misbehavior.

Site cleanup

The vacant steel mill site remains a public safety issue. Since the September fire, Joliet police have had 15 calls for trespassing, suspicious persons and other incidents. There were 34 calls for service in 2024.

No buildings have come down yet.

But D’Arcy this week said the city and U.S. Steel are moving ahead with demolition.

“They had to identify a lot of what’s underground before they start tearing down buildings,” D’Arcy said Thursday. “Some of that serves parallel properties and contiguous properties.”

Old water mains and sewers running underground are one concern before demolition begins.

The city utilities department is the last to sign off on demolition permits, which are moving forward, said Dustin Anderson, community development director for the city.

“We’re doing everything we can to make that happen in a workmanlike manner,” Anderson said.

Pollutants that lie underground are another concern for future redevelopment of the U.S. Steel site.

Anderson has experience in redeveloping former steel mill sites.

He was town manager in Muenster, Indiana, when a steel mill site there was redeveloped into Centennial Village, a mixed-use development with residences, restaurants and retail.

D’Arcy said not all the land on the U.S. Steel site is contaminated. Portions that are can be capped and used for parking or other uses, he said.

“We are still focused on making that a sports center,” he said.

There is no timetable for making that happen, however. Even the start date for demolition is unknown.

But D’Arcy said he will meet later this month with an intermediary company that will identify how the site can be used and work out protections for U.S. Steel and future occupants so the property can be sold with potential environmental issues resolved.

“When they (U.S. Steel) walk away, they want hands off completely,” D’Arcy said.

A U.S. Steel spokesman asked about the company plans for the site only said that it is working with the city on demolition permits.

Past proposals

The future of the U.S. Steel site has been a city issue since at least 2011, when Tom Giarrante made redevelopment of the property an issue in his successful campaign for mayor.

Giarrante proposed multiple uses for the site, including an indoor recreation center.

D’Arcy in his 2023 campaign said he knew former White Sox player and football standout Bo Jackson well enough to invite him to build one of his “Bo Domes” on the steel mill site. Jackson now runs a company that develops youth sports complexes.

Former Mayor Bob O’Dekirk in 2023 said the city had a deal in place to convert the site into a recycling center for batteries and other automobile parts. But the plan was rejected by the City Council and was not welcomed by the neighboring Collins Street community.

Whatever comes of the area, for now the only sure plan is for the small piece of it that Pilsen Wellness Center wants to use.

Pilsen already owns the half-acre site and the 1,885-square-foot building, built around 1972, that goes with it.

The building was last used in 2012 by New Century, which continues to do business in Joliet at a Springfield Avenue location.

Naranjo said a Pilsen Wellness Center with eight offices and eight therapists could open late this year if approved by the city.

The Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday unanimously recommended approval of the Pilsen plan. The proposal is expected to go the City Council for final approval at its Feb. 18 meeting.