Joliet's Blighted Buildings Will Become Top Priority: Terry D'Arcy

JOLIET, IL — When Joliet mayoral candidate Terry D'Arcy drives around Joliet's west side, downtown city center and many older east-side neighborhoods, he sees signs of decay. He sees properties rundown, crumbling and remaining in a state of disrepair year after year.

For the third-largest city in Illinois, this is unacceptable, according to D'Arcy, and that's why he has made quality of life —including addressing dilapidated and abandoned properties by getting them back on the tax roll —a cornerstone of his campaign as he meets with prospective April 4 voters.

During last week's property tour with Joliet Patch's editor, D'Arcy was in disbelief as he stopped in the 200 block of Eastern Avenue, near Osgood Park.

"You've got an abandoned house and kids playing next door," D'Arcy remarked.

D'Arcy said the house needs to be torn down to remove the neighborhood safety danger.

D'Arcy said he's seen firsthand how the city of Detroit has had tremendous redevelopment success by going block by block, demolishing rundown buildings and turning them into green space, and constructing new housing and commercial businesses amid the ruins.

As for parts of the east side, "we need to go neighborhood by neighborhood and speak with neighbors and see what they want to see," D'Arcy said. "I call these our legacy neighborhoods. A lot of people lived in those houses 50, 60 years."

After visiting Joliet's Third Avenue area, D'Arcy went to the old U.S. Steel property along Collins Street, which has remained in a state of decay for nearly 40 years.

During his annual state of the city speech in February, Mayor Bob O'Dekirk announced that Joliet is working to bring a battery recycling plant and hundreds of green-energy jobs to the site.

Rather than recycling batteries, D'Arcy prefers to see the U.S. Steel site become an out-of-town tournament destination for youth sports such as baseball, softball and soccer.

He's hoping to convince former Major League Baseball and NFL star Bo Jackson to open one of his indoor sports facilities, known as Bo Domes.

"Think about the pride it would instill," D'Arcy said, for the neighborhood area.

If the Bo Jackson Dome sports complex became popular, D'Arcy said, it would generate more visitors to the nearby Old Joliet Prison, which re-opened as a tourist attraction in 2018, after remaining vacant and in deteriorating condition for about 15 years after the Illinois Department of Corrections closed the prison and sent the inmates elsewhere.

In downtown Joliet, D'Arcy highlighted the empty Barrett's Hardware store property along Ottawa Street near the new Will County Courthouse.

In January 2019 — more than four years ago — Joliet Patch reported that Mike Patel, owner of four Joliet hotel properties, had purchased the empty Barrett's Hardware store. At the time, Patel said he envisioned converting the Barrett's building into an 80-unit or 90-unit hotel that would become a Marriott Springhill Suites.

However, Patel's Springhill Suites project has not materialized, and his empty Barrett's property has remained in a state of disrepair.

On Friday, Joliet Patch reached out to O'Dekirk for his response to D'Arcy's campaign theme. O'Dekirk said the Barrett's hotel redevelopment is still going to happen.

"US Steel, I have talked about," O'Dekirk responded. "Barrett's Hardware is building a hotel. All of these other properties are privately owned. If the city wants to condemn and demo, there is a legal process for that, which we do engage in.

"The city also has an economic development director that can help direct new businesses to empty sites. As you know, the economic development director is a position I created eight years ago and has been very successful as Joliet has seen over $5 billion in private investment the last eight years," the mayor said.

"There is no question that in a city as large and as old as Joliet there will always be specific issues to deal with, but Mr. D'Arcy is ignoring the redevelopment along Jefferson Street including Tony's Foods ... He is ignoring the new businesses at Theodore and Larkin. He is ignoring the redevelopment at the old truck stop at Route 30 and I-55, Costco, Olive Garden, etc. ..."

As for Joliet's entrances and gateways, D'Arcy said the city needs to work with a landscape designer to have community entrances that generate a "Wow" factor, as is the case in a number of other communities.

For motorists entering Joliet, the image the city projects is "that nobody cares. We just look like an old industrial town that stopped caring," D'Arcy said last week.

From his perspective, it's unacceptable to have so many empty buildings remain in a state of deterioration, year after year. A number of empty commercial buildings remain along West Jefferson Street, including the Baker's Square restaurant and the strip mall next door.

Last summer, Joliet's City Council reviewed a proposal to convert the empty Baker's Square restaurant at 2211 W. Jefferson St. into a marijuana dispensary store. However, the proposal was removed from the Council's agenda before the vote took place.

In the 1000 block of Jefferson Street, the National Cleaners property has been vacant and remained an eyesore for the past several years now.

On the east side, within walking distance of the Forest Park Community Center, is an old neighborhood corner store that has remained empty at least five years along Woodruff Road near Arthur Avenue.

D'Arcy said Joliet needs to conduct a neighborhood by neighborhood inventory of blighted and abandoned properties and create a long-term comprehensive plan to address them.

"At some point, you have to start thinking, what's the end game and how do we hold the owners accountable?" D'Arcy said.

As for the downtown, D'Arcy said Joliet needs to take a more proactive approach to attract more young entrepreneurs. He pointed to the success of Joliet City Council candidate Cesar Cardenas, who acquired 310 N. Ottawa Street, renovated the building, and opened his Unidos Marketing Network in part of the office building.

As for the city-owned building that once was Crabigale's comedy club, D'Arcy said that property would be a great spot to open a student center, geared for the students from the University of St. Francis and Joliet Junior College.

Last May, Joliet Patch reported that John Bays intended to purchase Crabigale's from the city; however, that project did not come to fruition. The Crabigale's building has remained empty for about 16 years.

D'Arcy said Joliet needs a population base living in downtown Joliet to attract more restaurants and amenities.

In downtown Joliet, "there's nowhere for kids to go," D'Arcy explained. "We've got to give kids more things to do. Crabigale's, right now, it's doing absolutely nothing. The downtown needs to be the center of our community. We need more kids, more restaurants."

D'Arcy realizes not everybody is on board with his ideas of bringing a Bo Dome to Collins Street, attracting college dorms to Joliet's downtown and installing giant video boards over empty buildings and the city's parking deck.

"If you don't have a dream," D'Arcy said, "you have nowhere to go."

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

Bo Jackson Dome For Joliet? Terry D'Arcy Draws Crowd To Town Hall

Dangerous Joliet Rock Pile Gets City's Attention

Joliet's Empty Bakers Square: New Owner May Surface Jan. 26

Jefferson Street Strip Mall Becomes Empty