Splash Station Sold By Joliet Park District After 2 Years On Real Estate Market: Buyer Revealed By Board

JOLIET, IL — The Joliet Park District executive director Brad Staab has done it. The park board will meet next week to vote on a proposal to sell off the old Splash Station water park property along Route 6 between Rockdale and Houbolt Road.

News of the sale was first reported on Thursday night by the WJOL news radio station AM-1340. The Joliet Park Board meeting to vote on the sale will be at 5 p.m. on Monday at the Inwood Athletic Club board room on the main level.

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The meeting agenda includes approval of a settlement with Boxcar Capital Partners resolving a dispute regarding Splash Station. After that vote, the agenda includes a resolution approving the purchase and sale of Splash Station to Prologis LP. After that, there is another agenda item on the matter, one calling for a pre-closing access agreement for tree removal at Splash Station.

According to the business website for Prologis, "We build the intelligent infrastructure that powers global commerce, seamlessly connecting the physical and digital worlds. With unmatched scale, innovation and expertise, we build what comes next, empowering our customers, communities and the industries that keep the world moving."

Joliet Patch first reported that the Joliet Park District was trying to sell the parcel for $10.5 million for redevelopment purposes in March 2024. Practically every major business along the Route 6 corridor nowadays is logistics or industrial.

Splash Station has not been operated since the summer of 2018. The Park District closed it because it was a money loser.

In August 2025, Joliet Patch published a story headlined, "Splash Station Destroyed By Vandals, Graffiti Rampant Everywhere: 10 Patch Photos."

The article revealed that the Joliet Park District shut down its outdoor Splash Station water park six years ago because it turned into a money pit and that the Park District was trying to redevelop the entire 20-acre property by selling the land to the tune of $10.5 million.

However, while the Park District's price tag had not attracted a buyer just yet, the Splash Station property along Route 6 has attracted widespread vandalism and graffiti.

Currently, the property was a mess — and easily accessible, with giant holes in the fence and the front entrance gate wide open.

Back in August 2025, Joliet Park District Director Brad Staab told Joliet Patch that the park district was aware of the graffiti and vandalism, which has increased of late. He said the Park District has posted numerous no trespassing signs and locked the gates, only to have the vandals and trespassers return and destroy them.

Staab pointed out that the Park District was still trying to sell the 20-acre parcel, and that the parcel was not being targeted for a future outdoor water park. "We are still hoping to sell it as soon as possible," Staab said. "We've had interest, we just have not been able to close on a deal just yet."

One of the lingering questions concerns what the Joliet Park District will do with all of that revenue, presumably several million dollars, generated by the sale of Splash Station.

The Park District closed down the Taste of Joliet at Memorial Stadium after the summer of 2025 Billy Corgan concert was a barely break-even venture. Still, Park District leaders have vowed to bring back a new exciting event in 2027.

Will the money generated from the sale of the Splash Station be used to attract a megastar such as Beyonce, Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga or perhaps even Post Malone? Time will tell. But for now, Joliet's taxpayers anxiously wait for the park board vote to take place on Monday evening. Presuming there is a favorable vote on the sale, perhaps a big fat check will be deposited into the Joliet Park District bank accounts, a check that might be able to help Joliet dream big when it comes to reviving its three-day festival.