Joliet prison redevelopment advances amid questions

Joliet took two more steps toward redevelopment of the former Joliet Correctional Center while one city councilman is warning against a long-term investment in the cause.

The City Council on Tuesday approved a special use permit that will allow Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group to move ahead with a haunted house that is expected to draw thousands of visitors this fall.

The council also approved a use agreement that allows Mark Grabavoy to proceed with plans to carve out a disc golf course in a wooded area that is part of the state-owned Joliet Correctional Center property that the city is leasing.

Both projects suggests the effort launched in late 2017, when Joliet leased the closed prison from the state for purpose of protecting the property and putting it to use, is working.

But Councilman Larry Hug is asking at what cost.

Hug at the Tuesday meeting called the prison a “drain on taxpayers,” a claim he believes he has bolstered after requesting a report from the city’s finance director on what the prison has cost Joliet since taking a lease on the property.

That report indicated the prison has been a net expense of $181,000 so far and is expected to cost another $211,500 this year.

Hug questioned city staff participation in negotiations for possible acquisition of the property, pointing out that the council has not authorized such talks.

“There’s no doubt the state wants to get rid of it,” said Hug, who views the prison as a liability because of an estimated $10 million needed to stabilize just six buildings and millions more he said would have to be spent to demolish others.

Hug said the recent report reflects only a portion of the costs of the prison, since the city does not keep track of any city staff hours spent working at the prison.

But Councilwoman Sherri Reardon noted the dilemma the city faces if it does not try to maintain some control of the prison.

“We need to do something with it,” Reardon said Tuesday while making a report from recent meetings of the council’s Prison Committee. “We don’t want it to sit there and just rot for lack of better words.”

That is what the prison was essentially doing before the city took a lease on the property and exerted some control. Under state management, trespassers were breaking in, vandalizing buildings, and even setting fires.

Reardon described “a fine line” in city management of the property, which has been dubbed Old Joliet Prison as it has been opened up for tours and events.

“We don’t want to bring it back to what it used to be,” Reardon said. “We want to make it an entity that can draw tourism and bring some revenue to the city.”