Joliet is taking on what is called the “first major capital project” in the restoration efforts at the Old Joliet Prison since opening it up to visitors.

The city will spend nearly $248,000 to repair a crumbling smokestack to the old prison power house, a project aimed at averting safety issues for visitors.

The smokestack was included in a 2019 engineering analysis that estimated $10 million in repairs were needed to stabilize six structures at the former Joliet Correctional Center.

“It’s really our first major capital project,” said Greg Peerbolte, executive director of the Joliet Area Historical Museum.

Museum staff manages the Old Joliet Prison and identified the smokestack as the most urgent need because of concern that falling bricks could pose a safety hazard, he said.

“You see those bricks peeling off,” Peerbolte said. “In some cases, we have found them at ground level. They fell off.”

A 50-foot barrier is maintained around the smokestack for safety.

The City Council last week approved the expenditure, and the question of liability was raised before the vote.

The state owns the prison. But Joliet took out a five-year lease in December 2017 with the aim of protecting the prison from vandals and arsonists, a problem that had plagued the facility since it was closed in 2002, while also converting it into a tour and event venue.

Assistant City Attorney Chris Regis said the city has the primary liability at the prison since Joliet opened it up for visitors.

The city lease expires in December 2022.

“We’ve asked for a lease extension,” Regis said. “I hope to get that done this winter.”

The conversion of the prison to a destination venue has been a popular decision. The prison was opened after a large volunteer effort to clean up debris and overgrown weeds and shrubs. And, the prison has been used for events and special activities along with tours.

But the issue of long-term maintenance has remained an open question.

Volunteers continue to perform maintenance at the prison, Peerbolte said, but repairing the smokestack “was literally and figuratively beyond the reach of what volunteers could do.”

The 2019 engineering analysis by the firm Klein & Hoffman was contracted to get a grasp on maintenance needed for six structures: the smokestack, the administration building, the east cell block, the west cell block, the hospital and chapel.

Klein & Hoffman set the price at $10 million just to stabilize the buildings to avoid continued deterioration.

The report set the highest priority on the administration building and hospital, warning of the potential that portion of the buildings could collapse.

In February, the roof caved in on the north end of the administration building causing that section of the structure to collapse, Peerbolte said. The south end of the building, which contains the warden quarters and is a familiar site to visitors because it faces the main parking lot, remains intact.

Repairs to the administration building are next on the to-do list, but getting money for repairs is the issue, Peerbolte said.

“There are reasons to be optimistic,” he said, noting the that museum has applied for a $3 million federal grant for restoration efforts. “We’re still in contention for that.”

A number of other grants have been sought as well.

“We’re leaving no financial stone unturned,” Peerbolte said.