Demolition Nears For Old St. Mary's Carmelite Property

JOLIET, IL — One of downtown Joliet's most depressing properties, the old St. Mary Carmelite Catholic Church, has been empty since the late Bishop Joseph Imesch closed the church in 1991. The property has been vacant for more than 30 years. That's right. Thirty-plus years.

Now, as a new year is here, there's a demolition crane parked in front of St. Mary's.

Is St. Mary's about to be torn down? The answer is "No," according to city of Joliet economic development officials.

Instead, the adjacent property, called the Fiat House, will be knocked down in the coming days.

The Gould Brothers Excavating and Demolition company has parked its crane inside the fenced-in property at 113 North Ottawa Street.

The Fiat House is the former rectory where the Catholic priests lived for decades when St. Mary's remained a viable Catholic parish. The building is just south of the church, built in the 1870s.

Last week, the ground was too cold for contractors to begin work, city officials told Patch.

In February 2020, Joliet Patch reported that the latest person to acquire the St. Mary's Carmelite property at 113 North Ottawa St. may decide to pursue a dining and hospitality venture, perhaps converting the 19th century limestone church into a restaurant and banquet hall geared for wedding receptions and large parties.

The previous two owners had proposed renovating the empty church property and the Fiat House into a multi-unit apartment facility. Both projects ultimately failed because neither owner had enough money to make the costly improvements.

In August 2020, Patch reported that Brian Baetz has bought the St. Mary's Carmelite property and planned to tear down the Fiat House. The pending demolition was the reason for the placement of a large chain-link fence around the entire church property.

The St. Mary's church building has been deemed structurally sound, and is not being torn down, city economic development Derek Conley told Joliet Patch in August 2020.

Before the demolition of the Fiat House began, Baetz needed to do an environmental study to make sure the property does not need remediation such as asbestos removal.