Joliet Catholic HS Gym Finally Torn Down: Photos, Backstory

JOLIET — At a total cost of nearly $2 million, city of Joliet taxpayers are funding the ongoing demolition at 25 North Broadway Street of the old Joliet Catholic High School gymnasium and cafeteria.

Why in the world are Joliet's taxpayers funding the project, you ask?

A long time ago, back in 1997, the Joliet City Council voted unanimously to accept the old Joliet Catholic gymnasium and cafeteria as a donation, as part of a redevelopment agreement with Victory Senior Centre. Most of the old Joliet Catholic High School building along Broadway Street was turned into senior citizen apartment units.

Last year, city officials notified the Joliet Council that the gymnasium portion of the Victory Center, also known as the Old Joliet Catholic High School, at 25 N. Broadway St., would be slated for strategic demolition in the first quarter of 2024.

In 2023, the City Council awarded a contract for nearly $316,000 to Universal Asbestos Removal for the Victory Center Gymnasium, 25 N. Broadway St. The subsequent demolition contract, approved by the City Council in March, indicates the city would spend just under $1,595,000.

The city hired Joliet-based R. Berti & Son Contractors as project manager for the demolition of the old Joliet Catholic High School property.

If you're shaking your head, wondering why your city of Joliet politicians wound up paying the costs on the asbestos removal and demolition of a former parochial high school, you can thank your former leaders, including Joliet city manager John Mezera and late mayor Art Schultz.

Mezera worked for Joliet, starting as a civil engineer in 1976. He later became city manager in 1987 until he retired April 1, 2008.

Mezera's guidance and direction regarding the land donation of the former Joliet Catholic High School gym and cafeteria back in 1997 set the wheels in motion for future Joliet taxpayers to fund the roughly $2 million asbestos removal and building demolition project to take place in 2023 and 2024.

At the time of the 1997 City Council vote, Joliet's politicians stated in writing that they were accepting the land donation, so the city could use it as a future community recreation center.

The recreation center never happened.

As the aging building sat idle for the next quarter of a century, the property deteriorated and the fell into major disrepair. It became a safety hazard, to the detriment of the senior citizens occupying the Victory Centre.