Electronic Ad Boards Planned for Park Land

Electronic billboards the city of Joliet has long wanted to add to its entrance signs on Jefferson Street and Route 59 will finally be erected, now that the Joliet Park Board has given its OK.

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The deal had been discussed for months, but was basically nixed by park district officials leery of having signs on park property that could display ads competing with the district's major event sponsors and with their own programs.

After a good deal of negotiation, that fear has been alleviated, Deputy City Manager Ben Benson said. The contract guarantees there will be no advertising accepted from companies in the same business as the park district's three main sponsors: Presence St. Joseph Medical Center, D'Arcy Motors and ATI Physical Therapy.

There will also be no advertising from any business that competes with park district programs or venues, such as golf courses, fitness centers and water parks, Benson said.

For the park district, the benefit of agreeing to the signs is access to slots it can use to advertise park district programs, he said. The city also gets free advertising slots, as can be seen on the LED electronic billboards already in place at Larkin Avenue and Theodore Street and at Essington and Hennepin roads, near the Louis Joliet Mall.

"We kept trying to tell them how good this is for the community," Benson said.

The signs will be incorporated into the existing city entrance monuments on Jefferson Street, near the entrance to the Joliet Regional Airport, and on Route 59 and Caton Farm Road, at the corner of the Wedgewood Golf Course. The city was previously given permission to build on the park district-owned land.

The final step before construction can start is city approval, Benson said. The Communication, Technology and Information Systems Committee will review the proposal Tuesday, and it will likely to the full Joliet City Council next week.

Installation takes about 30 to 60 days and could be completed by mid-summer, Benson said.