New Football Stadium For Joliet Catholic Academy? Joliet City Council Vote Goes 6 To 3

JOLIET, IL — At 8:45 p.m. the Joliet City Council voted 6 to 3 in favor of Joliet Catholic Academy's ambitious plans to build a new football stadium near the former property of the Our Lady of Angels retirement home community.

Those voting against the project were Jan Quillman, Larry Hug and Juan Moreno. Those voting for it were Mayor Terry D'Arcy, Pat Mudron, Joe Clement, Cesar Cardenas, Sherri Reardon and Suzanna Ibarra. More details from Tuesday night's discussion will appear in Wednesday's Joliet Patch.

Back on Nov. 20, the Joliet Planning Commission, in a 5-0 vote, gave its unanimous support to Joliet Catholic Academy High School's "Expanding Our Legacy" proposal that involves construction of a new 5,500-seat football stadium on its campus at Larkin Avenue near Ingalls Avenue.

During the November meeting inside Joliet's City Hall, Joliet attorney David Silverman of Mahoney, Silverman and Cross, displayed a PowerPoint presentation that addressed all the lingering concerns raised during the past several months by surrounding homeowners. Some people from the neighborhood have feared their streets will be overridden with traffic congestion, noise, pollution and other problems once JCA builds its new football stadium.

"I think we have a better presentation now than what we had months ago," Silverman declared in November.

Only a handful of people from the neighborhood who opposed the football stadium attended the planning commission to voice their displeasure.

In November, JCA Institutional Advancement Director Ryan Quigley informed the city's planning commission that even though JCA is still in its "silent phase" of fundraising for the Legacy Fields Campaign, Joliet Catholic Academy has already raised nearly $12.6 million.

Quigley told Joliet Patch that this year's JCA student enrollment is 539 students, and there's already a growing and renewed interest in attending JCA now that word is out in the community about JCA's $20 million Legacy Campaign. He believes that student enrollment should increase by 5 to 10 percent for next year.

Campus parking will be able to accommodate 4,300 to 4,400 football stadium spectators, except for games against Morris or Providence. However, JCA has made arrangements for remote off-site parking with several area locations in the event of maximum attended football games.

For several decades, Joliet Catholic Academy has used Memorial Stadium on West Jefferson Street and owned by the Joliet Park District, to play its home football games.