Lawsuit: Joliet Wants To Tear Down Forest Park House

JOLIET, IL — Joliet's corporation counsel filed a lawsuit this week against Ira Ellis and Pip East, LLC, seeking a Will County judge's approval to demolish a rundown, two-story, wood-frame house in the Forest Park area. The city's Neighborhood Services Division wants legal authority to proceed with demolition at 1114 Holmes Ave.

The single-family house was built in 1938, and it's just under 900 square feet.

Joliet's neighborhood services director Jeff Sterr "has determined that the structure is abandoned and in a dangerous and unsafe condition, unfit for occupancy and use, and, therefore, constitutes a public nuisance which imperils life, safety and health," argues Sabrina Spano, the city's assistant corporation counsel.

The city's lawsuit also informs the judge that a detached garage on the property has fallen into continuous disrepair.

"Because of the structural defects in the structure and the damage and deterioration thereof, the structure is imminently dangerous and unsafe and is a public nuisance and should be demolished and removed," Spano wrote Will County's judges.