JOLIET – Nights will be brighter this football season at Joliet Memorial Stadium.

The Joliet Park District is installing new lights that Executive Director Dominic Egizio said are overdue.

“We’ve gotten our money’s worth out of them,” he said of the stadium lights, noting there have been technical improvements since they were installed in the early 1980s. “It’s dark in there at night for sports.”

The district is spending $300,000 in money from the $19.5 million tax referendum, approved in November 2014 for use on capital improvements, on the project.

The lights are the latest improvement in a stadium built in 1951 and once was used solely for football and midget car racing. Midget racing is long gone. But track and field events, soccer, lacrosse and even concerts now take place at Memorial Stadium thanks to field turf installed in 2010.

Football still is there: Joliet Catholic Academy has been playing at Memorial Stadium since it opened.

A scene out of
'The Natural'

JCA football Coach Dan Sharp remembers the last time lights were replaced at the stadium because they began to malfunction in a dramatic fashion at a game near the end of the season.

“We had to play our last two home games at Joliet West,” he said. “The lights on the southeast end of the stadium started popping – just like in ‘The Natural.’ ”

Film fans may remember the scene in the baseball movie starring Robert Redford when a home run hit into the lights sets them popping.

The last night event at Memorial Stadium was the July Fourth fireworks show, and one bank of lights did not work.

“The wiring was starting to go bad,” Egizio said, “There were a few times when I had my fingers crossed that the lights would come on.”

Now, he’s hoping the lights will be ready for the next night event – an Aug. 27 home soccer game for the University of St. Francis. Egizio said the light project is scheduled to be complete Aug. 20.

St. Francis sports

Joliet Catholic may the longest user of the stadium, but St. Francis has become the biggest. Both schools pay rent to occupy the facility.

St. Francis hosts football and soccer games, as well as track meets. Football and soccer practices also are held at the stadium. St. Francis even has two trailers at the stadium, with football coaches spending most of their time there during the season.

“The enhancements have been incredible for our program,” St. Francis Athletic Director Dave Laketa said.

Like Joliet Catholic, St. Francis would not have a home football field without Memorial Stadium.

It’s one of the few schools of its size with a track and field facility because of access to the stadium, Laketa said.

“We are thankful to the park district because we are landlocked,” Laketa said. “Obviously, we pay them. But to have a facility that we have, owned by a park district, is really unique.”

Field turf and music

Expanded use of the stadium was made possible by the installation of field turf in 2010.

Field turf, which is able to take foot traffic in ways grass just can’t, has made it possible for the park district to stage concerts.

Taste of Joliet, a district event, features major concerts for three consecutive days at the stadium.

This fall, the stadium will be the site of a country music concert headlined by Chris Young. The district also is bringing in Jana Kramar, Michael Ray and Stephen Neal for the Oct. 3 event.

So much activity at the stadium never would have been possible in the days of natural grass, said Egizio. The field then was almost entirely used by two football teams – Joliet Catholic and the Raiders youth football team.

“We used to do everything we could all summer long to get that grass ready for football,” Egizio said. “It never failed. That first Friday night game it would rain, and that turf would be ruined for the rest of the year.”

Sharp agreed the field usually was a mess by the time the playoffs started.

Now, not only should the field look nice all season, it will be easier to see at night.

Sharp also agreed the stadium was due for new lights and is looking forward to them.

“It’s going to be wonderful,” he said.