Joliet takes steps for downtown plaza

Joliet will plan this year for a downtown plaza likely to be built in 2023.

The city is taking steps to create a public gathering area with green space that was first proposed in 2015. The plaza would be located along Chicago Street, which is being redesigned, and across the street from the Rialto Square Theatre.

On Tuesday, the City Council authorized staff to apply for a state grant of as much as $3 million to fund construction of the plaza. Joliet would have to match with city money whatever amount it receives from the grant.

“There is widespread support for this project, and I really encourage you to move forward with this plan,” Joliet City Center Partnership Executive Director Priscilla Cordero told the council before it voted.

Cordero said the CCP surveyed businesses downtown and along the Cass Street and Collins Street corridors concerning the plaza plan.

She said the grant provided through the Rebuild Downtowns & Main Streets Capital Grant Program provided “a timely opportunity” for the city.

How much the city spends depends on the scope of the plaza plan.

The city will hire a firm this year to design options for the plaza.

The plaza would expand the Van Buren Plaza across from the Rialto into the parking lot area next to it.

A 2018 proposal for the plaza from Ginkgo Planning & Design suggested features that would include a fountain that could be converted to a skating rink in the winter, a stage for performances, and a library garden across from the Joliet Public Library that would serve as a children’s play area.

How much of that gets incorporated into the plan will be determined this year when the City Council reviews proposals from the design firm, Finance Director James Ghedotte said.

The city budget for 2022 already includes Chicago Street improvements that include new lighting and plants.

The improvements are part of the overall Chicago Street improvement plan, Ghedotte said.

Mayor Bob O’Dekirk noted that the opening of Chicago Street in late 2020 was part of an overall downtown improvement plan, which included city-county agreements that led to the construction of the new Will County Courthouse.

“This really began in 2015 when we really got serious about this,” O’Dekirk said.

CCP board member James Roolf said a number of new businesses have opened downtown in the past year, and he expected the construction of the plaza will spur more development.

“Once you create that, you will have other economic activity and vitality that will be part of that,” Roolf said.