Joliet Catholic Academy Reveals Plans For Our Lady Of Angels Property

JOLIET — The city of Joliet's zoning board will meet a week from today — at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 17 in the second floor City Council Chambers — to review the Joliet Catholic Academy's ambitious multi-million-dollar construction plans to build a new outdoor sports stadium on the property of the demolished Our Lady of Angels Retirement Home.

Since the 1950s, Joliet Catholic has played its home football games at the Joliet Park District's Memorial Stadium, at 3000 W. Jefferson St. According to the city of Joliet staff, Joliet Catholic will need a special use permit in order to proceed with the construction project.

Joliet Park District officials informed Joliet Patch that JCA has an "annual contract" with the Park District to use Memorial Stadium and Joliet Catholic officials have not notified the Park District if and when they plan to stop using Memorial Stadium for their home football games.

According to the Joliet board of zoning documents, Joliet Catholic Academy's petition seeks a special use permit "to allow athletic fields incidental to a private high school, located at 1201 Wyoming Avenue and 1200 N. Larkin Avenue."

The project would renovate several existing fields, while also making substantial improvements to the Our Lady of Angels property for construction of a new football field and eight new tennis courts. According to the documents, JCA believes the multipurpose athletic field will have a capacity between 6,000 and 7,000 people, with 5,500 seats.

While JCA is proposing a generous amount of on-site parking to accommodate capacity crowds at the football stadium, staff approval of a more detailed parking and traffic plan will be required prior to issuance of a building permit for construction of the football field, Joliet's board of zoning reports point out.

Joliet Catholic Meets With Neighborhood Residents

According to the city of Joliet memo, JCA held an open house in October 2024 to discuss the proposed athletic fields complex with area residents. Several residents attended the meeting, most of whom supported the project. A few residents expressed concerns over the potential for increased traffic, noise and crime.

"The petitioner stated that the establishment ... (will) also help to ensure the long-term viability of Joliet Catholic Academy in the City of Joliet ... While staff recognizes that larger crowds will likely attend games at the proposed multi-purpose athletic field football stadium in Phase 1 of the project, it is not uncommon to see high school football fields occupy land in or adjacent to residential neighborhoods elsewhere in the region.

"With effective policing and traffic control planning, staff does not believe the proposed on-campus stadium will be injurious to the use of other property in the immediate vicinity nor will impede the normal and orderly development of surrounding property."