City officials at a recent public meeting said fire hazards, an outdated sprinkler system and “jerry-rigged” lighting were found at Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park and Theatre, which is getting a new manager.

Joliet City Manager Beth Beatty and the city have been largely mum on what led to former park manager Lori Carmine being put on administrative leave in September.

Carmine no longer is employed by the city.

Beatty described the stage lighting at the park theater as a safety concern and urged the City Council to approve a new rigging system for the lights.

“When we started to review Bi Park, not just for management and operations but also for safety, this was the biggest safety concern for liability for the city if someone were to get hurt because it was not as safe as it should be for a municipality, and for the kids performing there, and for everyone else,” Beatty told the council Dec. 15.

The council approved a $117,000 contract with Grand Stage Co. to install an updated rigging system for stage lighting.

When council member Larry Hug questioned the inspection of the old system being done by Grand Stage, which got the contract, Beatty responded: “I could even show you in pictures, Larry. But I don’t want to talk about how we had jerry-rigged equipment in a public facility like this.”

Ann Sylvester, director of cultural affairs and special events for the city, said representatives from Grand Stage Lighting believed they had installed the original rigging for the theater in the 1970s.

Sylvester said there was “other rigging installed at a later date that was not installed properly.”

Fire Chief Jeff Carey, meanwhile, said a fire department inspection of the building “started the ball rolling” on a wider review of theater conditions.

Carey said “a lot of things” were out of date, including the sprinkler system.

“There were storage and different fire hazards throughout the building that we were trying to get corrected,” Carey said. “That’s when more issues were noticed.”

Carmine’s name was not mentioned during the council discussion, and Beatty would not say after the meeting whether Carmine resigned or was discharged.

Carmine has not returned calls seeking comment.

She had been park manager since 2016.

The city of Joliet is now advertising for a special events manager who will replace Carmine while taking on additional duties, according to a job description on the city’s website.

The next manager at Bicentennial Park also will manage the new City Square.

Duties include coordination of “technical production elements such as staging, lighting, sound, accessibility and power,” according to the job description.

When Carmine was put on administrative leave, city officials said little other than staff changes were being made after “significant operational deviations” were found at Bicentennial Park.