The Joliet City Council will vote Tuesday on a $2.5 million loan to help the Rialto Square Theatre pay for a new heating and air conditioning system.

The $9 million project is already underway, suggesting Rialto officials expect to get the money.

The 100-year-old theater has been closed since June 1 for the work, which actually was started in 2024 before an asbestos problem brought it to a halt.

“It wasn’t their fault,” Mayor Terry D’Arcy said of the asbestos issue at a Monday workshop meeting of the City Council.

State authorities in 2024 ordered the theater closed and an extensive cleanup after a reported mishandling of debris by a contractor.

The Rialto is in litigation with contractors seeking reimbursement for its losses during a prolonged closing and additional clean-up mandated by the state.

The city would have a claim on any court payout from the litigation to pay off the loan, D’Arcy said.

“Whatever they get is paid back to us immediately,” he said.

Whatever the Rialto doesn’t get from the litigation would be taken out of the city’s annual grant to the Rialto.

The city would use its annual $475,000 grant to the Rialto to pay off the loan instead of providing the money to the theater, Finance Director Kevin Sing said.

Sing noted the Rialto does have an impact on downtown business.

“When they were closed last time we felt it downtown,” he said.

Joliet is not the only funding source for the Rialto HVAC project.

Grants are covering $6.9 million of the $9 million project, according to a staff memo.

The state and Will County are providing most of the funding.

The Rialto is replacing a dated HVAC system that does not allow the for temperature control when the furnace or air conditioner is running.

“There is not a working thermostat in the theater,” Rialto Executive Director Wade Welsh said during a previous interview about the project.

Welsh said the HVAC system dates back to the 1950s or 1960s.

The HVAC replacement project is expected to run through Sept. 15, Welsh said.