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New management pending at Renaissance Center in Joliet

Williams family, which also owned Syl’s, has managed facility since 2017

By Bob Okon
One of two lion sculptures that sit at the front stairwell to the Renaissance Center in downtown Joliet is seen on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023.

The lion sculpture is one of two that sits at the front steps to the entrance of the Renaissance Center in downtown Joliet. (Bob Okon)

The Renaissance Center in downtown Joliet may be under new management soon.

The historic banquet facility owned by Joliet Junior College and located at 214 N. Ottawa St. is currently contracted out to Premier Events and Catering, which has run events there since 2017.

Premier Events and Catering is owned by the Williams family, which closed Syl’s Restaurant in Rockdale earlier this month. The closing of Syl’s and prospective change at the Renaissance Center follows the death in October of Don “Duke” Williams, who ran the restaurant and catering business with his wife Maura.

Joliet Junior College's Renaissance Center hosted it's reopening on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017, with a new tenant, Premier Events and Banquets, which will be running the facility.

Premier Events and Banquets held a ceremony in September 2017 when it became the operator for the Renaissance Center, which reopened at the time afte a renovation project.

The Arkas Restaurant Group is in discussions to take over operations at the Renaissance Center, a JJC spokesperson confirmed Friday.

Arkas has five Joliet restaurants and a catering service.

The Joliet City Council on Tuesday approved a new liquor license for the Renaissance Center. The license applicant was Bill Dimitroulas, president of the Arkas Restaurant Groups.

Dimitroulas could not be reached for comment on Friday.

JJC spokesperson Kelly Rohder-Tonelli said Premier is still under contract with the college, which is in discussions on a new lease for the Renaissance Center.

“We are working through those discussions and can confirm that Arkas Restaurant Group is a prospective tenant to take over the lease,” Rohder-Tonelli said in an email.

The five restaurants in the Arkas group include three downtown: Juliet’s Tavern, Cut 158 Chophouse and Mousa Tapas Bar. The group also has two restaurants on Essington Road, Hamburgersia and Rosemary Cafe, and Cut Catering.

Rohder-Tonelli said Premier approached the college in December about another tenant taking over the lease at the Renaissance Center.

The Joliet chamber's former club facilities at what is now the Renaissance Center were pretty enough to be in this postcard depicting the downtown building.

A postcard from yesteryear depicts what was called the "club home" of the Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce & Industry, a building that is now the Renaissance Center owned by Joliet Junior College. (Image provided)

“The Renaissance Center is a historic and beautiful space that we hope continues to support a wide range of community events for generations to come,” Rohder-Tonelli said.

The Renaissance Center was designed by renowned Chicago architect Daniel Burnham. It was built in 1924 to serve as the home for the Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce & Industry. It later became D’Amico’s 214, a nightclub run by the late Earl D’Amico who brought some of the nation’s top talent and legendary musicians, including Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck and Chubby Checker, to Joliet in the 1960s and 1970s.

JJC has owned the Renaissance Center since 1980. The college also operated the banquet facility until leasing it to Premier.

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