Joliet Has A Lot On Its Plate In 2020: O'Dekirk

JOLIET, IL — For Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk, 2019 was a forgettable year in many respects as the Joliet City Council had more than its share of acrimony. Monday marked the mayor's annual State of the City speech, and O'Dekirk had a lot on his mind he wanted to share.

In front of a crowd of 260 strong at the downtown Joliet Renaissance Center, the mayor began by singling out the city of Joliet's corporation counsel, Marty Shanahan, for "an outstanding job" as interim city manager on two different occasions since 20017. Last June, the council's Mudron 5 coalition orchestrated Shanahan's removal as interim city manager.

"Obviously, there has been a lot of turmoil at City Hall. He deserved better than what he got from the city," O'Dekirk told everyone as Shanahan sat nearby at one of the front tables.

Fortunately, the mayor said, despite the political infighting and petty feuds, Joliet has a lot of noteworthy projects on the horizon for 2020.

It is O'Dekirk's belief that this year, unlike 2019, will be an exceptionally strong year for Joliet in terms of job creation and economic growth.

In January, the mayor attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Target distribution center off Route 6 just up the road from the Hollywood Casino. It's a mammoth building, 1.2 million square feet. The new Target warehouse opened with more than 100 workers and plans to have at least 300 workers by the year's end, the mayor noted.

Also in January, Joliet welcomed Rise, the city's first recreational marijuana retail outlet, near the Louis Joliet Mall. The mayor said Rise has been a terrific community partner so far, and the company has been hiring off-duty Joliet Police officers to help with security.

O'Dekirk told Monday's audience that there has been no criminal activity and no problems whatsoever since Rise opened on New Year's Day.

One bright spot in late 2019, the mayor noted, was the addition of the Pottery Barn Outlet Store near Plainfield Road and Interstate 55. The Pottery Barn Outlet opened in late November, filling the empty 55,000-square-foot Gander Mountain store.

O'Dekirk also talked about another empty big box store that is about to be re-purposed.

The former Ultra Foods store on Larkin Avenue, vacant since 2017, has been sold and will become a Vasa Fitness Center. The new health and fitness center will feature free weights, racquetball courts, a swimming pool area and could open in late summer, the mayor said.

O'Dekirk was also proud that Joliet kept Hawk Motors from relocating to another community. Hawk opened its new Subaru and Mazda showrooms last September at Route 59 and Caton Farm Road.

On Joliet's east side, the mayor highlighted several projects that will help spur economic development.

This year, O'Dekirk expects construction of the Thorntons gas station on Collins Street to move forward, a $5 million investment that will bring 15 to 20 jobs to the east side.

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The Loves Travel Stop, a project approved in October 2018, will also break ground in the next couple months, the mayor proclaimed.

The Loves project at the Interstate 80 exit for Briggs Street has taken longer, according to the mayor, because Loves has needed to extend sewer and water lines to the site of its future development. Loves truck stop marks a $13 million private investment in the city's east side. O'Dekirk predicted Loves would begin building this spring.

Also on the east side, the mayor noted, the council recently approved a three-year lease with 13th Floor, a nationally prominent haunted house-theme attraction. The mayor said 13th Floor will create 100 to 125 seasonal jobs by re-purposing the former Illinois Department of Corrections women's prison property on the east side of Collins Street. The details of the contract require 13th Floor to open for business in September.

Back toward the Louis Joliet Mall, O'Dekirk highlighted the city's partnership development project with the village of Plainfield to create The Boulevard.

Construction is now underway along Route 30 at the long abandoned truck stop near I-55. As people know, the mayor said, the major retail tenant for this development will be a Costco store.

Just down the road on Route 30, the mayor said construction of the much-hyped Chick-fil-A restaurant featuring a double drive-thru would occur in 2020. First, Chick-fil-A will need to tear down the former Lone Star building after the national chain restaurant closed in 2017.

Downtown, Joliet will be adding a new 82-room Marriott's Springhill Suites that aims to open in March 2021, the mayor said. The Marriott's redevelopment of the empty Barrett's Hardware Store was approved by the council earlier this month. The $18 million project marks the largest private investment in downtown since Harrah's Casino & Hotel opened during the early 1990s.

One of the mayor's proudest projects, he said, involves the ongoing construction of the new GP Transco, a 40,000-square-foot building on top of the hillside off Route 6.

The Darien-based logistics company is bringing its corporate headquarters to Joliet. The addition of GP Transco means 100 new jobs for Joliet, the mayor said.

"It's another corporate headquarters coming into the city of Joliet, the fourth in the last five years," O'Dekirk said.

One of the mayor's slides at his State of the City speech did not involve a new business or expanding company — a slide featuring the Rialto Square Theatre on North Chicago Street. The mayor reminded everyone that the Rialto was on the verge of closing around 2015.

Nowadays, under the leadership of VenuWorks, executive director Val Devine and her staff, "the Rialto is a real success story," O'Dekirk proclaimed.

The mayor said the Rialto's resurgence has been one of the most under-reported news stories in Joliet.

During the previous few years, the Rialto's total number of shows ranged from about 30 and 50, the mayor said.

In 2019, the Rialto put on 139 shows, O'Dekirk said.

"The numbers and turnaround at the Rialto has been astounding," the mayor said. " I want to give a big thank you to the Rialto Board and VenuWorks."