Joliet Catholic Academy Gains Unanimous Approval For New Football Stadium From City Officials

JOLET, IL — The Joliet Planning Commission, in a 5-0 vote, gave its unanimous support to Joliet Catholic Academy High School's "Expanding Our Legacy" proposal that involves construction of a new 5,500-seat football stadium on its campus at Larkin Avenue near Ingalls Avenue.

At Thursday night's meeting, Joliet attorney David Silverman of Mahoney, Silverman and Cross, displayed a PowerPoint presentation that addressed all the lingering concerns raised during the past several months by surrounding homeowners. Some people from the neighborhood fear their streets will be overridden with traffic congestion, noise, pollution and other problems once JCA builds its new football stadium.

"I think we have a better presentation now than what we had months ago," Silverman said.

Only a handful of people from the neighborhood who opposed the football stadium attended Thursday's planning commission to voice their displeasure. Thursday's vote was a resounding victory for Joliet Catholic, its alumni and other backers of the athletic facility expansion.

JCA Institutional Advancement Director Ryan Quigley informed the city's planning commission that even though JCA is still in its "silent phase" of fundraising for the Legacy Fields Campaign, Joliet Catholic Academy has already raised nearly $12.6 million.

He said there is $5.3 million "cash-in-hand" to purchase the former Our Lady of Angels nursing home property and to fund the Phase 1 of construction. The construction consists of three phases.

Quigley said that another $5.5 million has been raised in cash and pledges for endowment purposes, exceeding his goal of $3 million.

Silverman and Quigley emphasized that Joliet Catholic plans to host "only four to seven home football games per year." Other sporting events at the future new stadium will have significantly lower attendance than football games, both men said.

Most home football games will average 1,500 to 3,100 spectators, except for games against Providence Catholic and Morris High School. JCA pointed out that campus parking will be increased from 481 parking spots to 933 parking spots, an increase of 94 percent.

Campus parking will be able to accommodate 4,300 to 4,400 spectators, except for games against Morris or Providence. However, JCA has made arrangements for remote off-site parking with several area locations in the event of maximum attended football games.

JCA representatives pointed out that in addition to the football games, the soccer and lacrosse teams would play their games there, and those crowds only average 200 to 300 fans.

Data and analysis from a professional civil engineer, a traffic engineer along with information supplied by a sound engineer and a lighting engineer were shared with the planning commission, prompting commission member Mike Turk to remark that prior to Thursday's meeting, his main questions concerned sound and traffic.

"Hearing that the police will be there directing traffic, I think you've addressed them both very well," Turk announced.

Thursday night's most dynamic speaker was Sister Jeanne Bessette, president of the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate.

Bessette was instrumental in the November 2022 decision to shut down the Our Lady of Angels Retirement Home and have the building facing Wyoming Avenue demolished.

Sister Jeanne reminded the plan commission that Joliet Catholic Academy is the winningest football program in the state of Illinois "that does not have its own football stadium."

She said she now wants to see the vacant Our Lady of Angels land in the hands of Joliet Catholic Academy and believes that the new football stadium facility will allow Joliet Catholic to prosper for the next 30 years — even though she won't be alive to enjoy that success. With the new sports facilities, Sister Jeanne expects JCA will draw more students and bolster student pride like Joliet Catholic has never seen before, helping the student body become "more holistic persons."

"This will anchor for the city," she announced. "I strongly urge you to stand behind something that's already really good.

"I do believe the Joliet Franciscans I represent, we have been good neighbors to our neighbors, and we have given, given, given to our city."

While Thursday's vote was unanimous from the planning board, a handful of people from the neighborhood spoke at the podium, voicing their anger and displeasure with Joliet Catholic Academy.

One man, who used the F-word while addressing the commission, repeatedly blasted Joliet Catholic Academy's staff members and alumni who sat in the audience supporting the project, insisting that they all came from other parts of Joliet or far away places.

He predicted that the home values of everyone who lives near Joliet Catholic Academy "will drop because of all this. You can't tell me this won't. They want to destroy a neighborhood for their own personal benefit. I'm just so upset about it ... They're just studies, not actual fact."

At the start of Thursday's meeting, Joliet City Councilwoman Jan Quillman showed up, and she spoke against the football stadium project.

"The JCA stadium, I'm very upset about this," Quillman declared. She said she is against the idea of building a football stadium with 5,500 seats and a total capacity of 7,000 fans because, "this is an established older neighborhood."

Quillman said the idea of building a new football stadium that mainly gets used for four to eight home games a year, "it's not cost-effective. Come on!" she exclaimed.

Quillman said the homes in the surrounding neighborhood have been around for 60 or 70 years.

"These folks, it's going to disrupt their lives when they don't have a place to park. This isn't Chicago ... I know I'm not being very popular ... This is not good for the neighborhood," she added.

After the successful vote, Quigley told Joliet Patch that this year's JCA student enrollment is 539 students, and there's already a growing and renewed interest in attending JCA now that word is out in the community about JCA's $20 million Legacy Campaign. He believes that student enrollment should increase by 5 to 10 percent for next year.

Quigley said that JCA wants to be on the Joliet City Council meeting agenda in December for final approval on the stadium project.

The plan is to break ground on Phase 1 in the spring or summer. The football stadium will not be built next year, however.

Phase 1 calls for construction of a new multipurpose turf field for $2 million and construction of new tennis courts for $1.2 million.

"We expect to be at Memorial Stadium at least two or three more years," Quigley told Joliet Patch. "It's all fund-raising dependent."

To learn more, JCA has just launched its new website link, The Legacy Campaign for Joliet Catholic Academy.

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

Joliet Catholic Academy Reveals Plans For Our Lady Of Angels Property

New Football Stadium Project At Joliet Catholic Academy Finally Ready To Move Forward