Joliet Park District celebrates new naming rights agreement at Memorial Stadium

Busey Bank executive Steve Jamnik played football at Joliet Memorial Stadium in the late 1970s, and now he’s with the bank that is the naming-rights sponsor for the stadium.

“This is beautiful,” Jamnik said, commenting on the field turf installed during the summer and how different the stadium looks now.

Jamnik was among speakers during a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the naming-rights deal that involves both Busey Bank and D’Arcy Motors at the stadium owned by the Joliet Park District.

Busey Bank is the second naming-rights sponsor at the stadium after ATI Physical Therapy, and it’s the second round of field turf installed there.

The naming rights go with the field, and the park district already had renamed the facility Busey Bank Field at Joliet Memorial Stadium.

Jamnik, a senior vice president with the bank, said the sponsorship “is the first of its kind in the Busey Bank family in that it has stadium naming rights. But we saw it as a marquee opportunity in Joliet.”

Jamnik, a Joliet West High School graduate, has a good idea of the stadium’s place in the community, having played for his high school football team. Joliet West had its own stadium but played at Memorial Stadium as the visiting team on the home turf for what was then Joliet Catholic High School (now Joliet Catholic Academy) and Joliet Central High School.

The $500,000 cost of the new field turf actually is being paid with a state grant for the same amount.

But park officials noted that the naming-rights revenue will support the stadium and other park district programs.

D’Arcy Motors does not become part of the stadium name. But D’Arcy Motors signs were all over the stadium Friday.

Owner Terry D’Arcy, who also is running for mayor of Joliet in April, was among the speakers at the ceremony.

“This is a perfect example of a public-private partnership,” D’Arcy said, noting the involvement of the private sponsors and state of Illinois in helping the Joliet Park District.

In her remarks, park board President Sue Gulas said that D’Arcy has been a sponsor for park district activities for the past 15 years.