State wants historical report on Nowell Park bathhouse

JOLIET – The groundbreaking date for the East Side Recreation Center could be delayed “a little” by a historical report required of a building to be demolished at the site.

Joliet Park District Executive Director Tom Carstens said the state has approved the demolition of the bathhouse building but only after a historical study is done.

The bathhouse served the old Nowell Park pool that was filled in long ago. The building is to be torn down for parking to serve the East Side Recreation Building, which will be constructed on the parking lot there now.

The park district has targeted an August groundbreaking for the recreation center. Carstens said that is still the plan, although it may be in late August because of the report that must be done on the bathhouse.

"It's probably going to delay it a little," Carstens said. "But we're still hoping by the end of August we'll be breaking ground."

The Illinois State Historic Preservation Office has required that the park district hire a contractor to document the building with sketch plans, photos and a written historical narrative. Copies of the documents would be stored at the Joliet Public Library and the Illinois State Historical Library.

The state office is not the first to point to the historical value of the stone building, which stands on the south end of the park.

The Joliet Historic Preservation Commission started questioning the demolition of the building in 2015. The commission has asked that at least parts of the building be preserved and retained in some way when the new recreation center is built.

Carstens said the park district is still considering whether it can re-use parts of the building in some way and commemorate the new recreation center.

Park officials, meanwhile, have been eager to get started on the 30,667-square-foot recreation center, a project that was promised as part of the $19.5 million bond referendum approved in 2014. Construction has been delayed for a number of reasons. The park district now estimates the recreation center will open in late summer or fall 2018.