O'Dekirk: 17-Screen Movie Theater Groundbreaking Set

JOLIET, IL — At least 300 people gathered at Monday's luncheon at downtown Joliet's Renaissance Center for Mayor Bob O'Dekirk's annual State of the City speech. O'Dekirk saved one of his biggest announcements for the end. A giant, first-class theater, with 17 movie screens, will break ground in Joliet in late March, the mayor revealed.

"This is a game changer for Joliet," O'Dekirk assured the crowd. "I know Cullinan (Properties) has signed a number of agreements. I've been told there are two hotel chains that they are going to be announced in the very near future, but I was authorized to announce today that the first groundbreaking is going to happen on that site March 22, less than a month from now. Cullinan is going to announce that Regal Cinemas, it's a company from London, England, is investing in Joliet."

Rock Run Crossing is a 265-acre development that is planned along the frontage road near Interstate 55 and Interstate 80. The open land is out behind the Joliet Junior College campus off Houbolt Road. Joliet's mayor emphasized that the upcoming development is not considered a shopping mall venture; rather, it's a mixed-use development.

All told, the Cullinan Properties project is looking to bring about 8,000 construction jobs and 5,000 permanent jobs to the site and $1.4 billion in revenue to the property over the next 20 years, Joliet's mayor said.

O'Dekirk, a Joliet attorney and former city police officer, is finishing his first four-year term as mayor. He is the first incumbent mayor in many decades to be running for re-election against no opposition, on April 2. All five of the District seats on the Joliet City Council have competition.

"They certainly can talk more about their project than I can, but this is a cutting-edge theater group out of London," O'Dekirk said of the new movie theater. "It will be a 75,000-square-foot facility which includes 17 movie screens, over 4,000 seats. It will have a 4DX and ScreenX theater experience … Apparently, screens are going to surround you. It's a whole new movie experience that is coming. They have a VIP lounge, dining and luxury seats. This is a high-end project coming to the city of Joliet.

"And, I'll be frank with you, these are the types of things, to have a foreign company come in, this is what you see in Downtown (Chicago) or in Oak Brook or Naperville. Well, it's coming to Joliet."

O'Dekirk also rehashed some of the history of the Rock Run Crossings property, which, had been talked about as a future shopping mall prior to the economic recession that began in late 2008, causing the development to idle.

"There was a viable offer on that property from a logistics company from Texas to build warehousing and logistics on that property," O'Dekirk told the crowd. "And the Joliet City Council said 'No.' We held out, we believed there was a better use for that property. I'm glad it's finally coming to fruition.

"I point that out because, especially in recent months or the last year or so with all the talk about trucks and the issues with truck traffic going on, I think it's underreported what the city has and hasn't done. And the fact that we said no to logistics on that site when our neighbors to the west, Shorewood, had built a string of warehouses. Channahon's building warehouses, built truck stops, and it isn't being reported by the local media … and give the city credit that we aren't taking trucks everywhere and certainly held out in this instance and I'm glad we did."