Joliet Slammers Stadium Will Never Look The Same

JOLIET, IL - The Joliet Slammers baseball diamond looks like the site for a demolition derby or the backdrop for a mud-wrestling tournament. But the mounds and mounds and mounds of dirt aren't supposed to stay much longer. The Joliet City Council, in a recent 6-2 vote, awarded Field Turf, USA a contract for a grand total of $651,189 to install synthetic turf. The council also has authorized nearly $1 million for other projects related to the ballpark improvements. Work is well underway. The natural grass is gone.

The issue over the turf contract had dissention as Larry Hug and Jan Quillman voted against awarding the contract to Field Turf, which, incidentally, was not the lowest of the five submitted bids to the city. "The low bid by Midwest Sport and Turf Systems in the amount of $471,400 did not conform to these bid document specifications," interim city manager Marty Shanahan notified the council. The council majority went along with Shanahan's recommendations.

Now that the matter has been settled, Field Turf is expected to install the synthetic turf in the coming weeks. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Why in the world is Joliet transforming its minor league baseball stadium? Mayor Bob O'Dekirk has championed the notion that Joliet Slammers stadium, with synthetic turf, offers enormous potential. The renovated stadium can host numerous year-round community festivals, outdoor music concerts, youth baseball tournaments, soccer tournaments and corporate outings, among other events.

"We have a lot of synergy happening in our city especially downtown. I think the vote on the turf for the ballpark is just an extension of that. There is going to be more events and more people coming downtown ... We have to keep the pedal on the gas," Mayor O'Dekirk advised the council at the last meeting.

Just a block away, Joliet's first microbrewery, MyGrain Brewing Company, just opened inside the lower level of historic Union Station. The microbrewery offers several craft beers as well as a lunch and dinner menu. The city believes the improvements to the Joliet Slammers stadium will stimulate more business growth in the downtown and help new restaurants and bars such as MyGrain Brewing prosper.

Joliet's vision of turning its baseball stadium into more of a year-round destination was never practical as long as the outdoor sports facility retained its natural grass, City Councilman Larry Hug pointed out.

"It allows for a lot more use, potentially," Hug told Joliet Patch. "Soccer, concerts, festivals, with MyGrain Brewing already down there, you could have a microbrewery festival. But nothing beyond baseball can be considered with only natural turf."

Hug said he's confident that Joliet's community groups and businesses will rise to the occasion to utilize the new and improved sports facility come 2018.

Photos by Joliet Patch Editor John Ferak