'Filling Station,' Dunkin' Approved For Theodore Street

JOLIET, IL — The Joliet City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night in favor of the drive-thru permit for the Dunkin' Donuts proposed near Theodore Street and Drauden Road. The Dunkin' will be part of a gas station and convenient store construction project.

City officials said the gas station will be a Food N Fuel. The undeveloped land near the three-way intersection of Theodore and Drauden is zoned for general business, city officials said at Tuesday night's meeting.

Prior to the vote, councilwoman Jan Quillman questioned whether Tuesday's Patch new stories about Dunkin' possibly closing 800 locations nationwide would impact the Joliet project. However, councilman Larry Hug said the closings were not discussed by the council committee reviewing the project. Hug said he did not believe the talk of Dunkin' closings in other parts of the country would negatively impact on the Joliet development.

Some council members praised the project, saying it will bring a much-needed gas station and convenient store to Joliet's far west side. Area residents have complained in recent years about the lack of gas stations in that area of the city.

Although interim city manager Steve Jones was not at Tuesday's meeting, Hug chided Jones for referring to the development at Monday's pre-council meeting as "a filling station."

Hug said he has not heard the term "filling station" since his days of watching "The Andy Griffith Show."

Tuesday's vote marks the Joliet City Council's second Dunkin' construction project approved in less than one month. On July 21, the council voted unanimously to approve plans to build a Dunkin' at the Six Corners intersection, along Raynor Avenue. That particular Dunkin' drive-thru restaurant will be built on the grass lot near the Thayer Brothers Deli.