Joliet Catholic Academy looks to build football stadium on campus

Joliet Catholic Academy is moving ahead with plans to build a football stadium and other athletic facilities on land next to its Joliet campus.

JCA will seek a city permit next week for a stadium and other athletic facilities on what is now the site of the closed Our Lady of Angels Retirement Home, which is being demolished

The JCA expansion plan has been under discussion for years. But JCA had not previously announced that it would move ahead with the project.

On Thursday, the plan will be presented to the Joliet Zoning Board of Appeals for a vote on a special use permit that would allow the project to go forward.

The plan would bring JCA football games, including stadium lights and hundreds of vehicles, next to a residential area.

JCA “will be required to furnish a parking and traffic plan for major events, such as home football games, prior to issuance of a building permit for Phase 1 of the project,” a staff memo to the zoning board states.

Phase One includes what is termed in the memo as “a new multi-purpose athletic field,” which would be used for football games along with other sporting events.

The plan includes 350 new parking spaces, which would be added to the 481 spaces now on JCA property.

The stadium will accommodate 7,000 people while providing seating for 5,500, according to the staff report.

JCA for decades has played its home football games at Memorial Stadium, located along Jefferson Street.

The new facility would provide the first on-campus football stadium for JCA’s legendary football program.

JCA plans other athletic facilities on the 45-acre Our Lady of Angels site as the plan includes construction of eight new tennis courts and four pickleball courts.

The school also plans a new eight-lane track and synthetic turf field.

JCA is located along Larkin Avenue at the intersection with Ingalls Avenue. The stadium plan would extend the campus north to Wyoming Avenue.

JCA held a neighborhood meeting on the project in October, according to the staff report.

“Several residents attended the meeting , most of which supported the project,” according to the staff report. “A few residents expressed concerns over the potential for increased traffic, noise, and crime.”

JCA President Jeff Budz could not be reached Thursday for comment.

Budz in 2024 told The Herald-News that JCA was in a fundraising campaign to generate the money needed to buy the Our Lady of Angels land while not having yet made a decision to move ahead.

JCA has been in a comfortable position to acquire the Our Lady of Angels land.

The school was given first dibs on the property by its owner, the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate. The Joliet-based order also owns the building and land occupied now by JCA.