Patch Tours New Will County Courthouse: Photos

JOLIET, IL — If you don't like heights or ledges, it may take some time to get acclimated to the new Will County Courthouse when it opens this fall. On the other hand, if heights aren't an issue, you may fall in love with the architecture and breathtaking views of Joliet's skyline.

From the tenth floor, you can easily see the grandstands for the city's NASCAR racetrack, even though Chicagoland Speedway is several miles to the south.

Downtown Joliet's ongoing $215 million construction project, funded by Will County government, is now in year three. It's slated for a Sept. 15 substantial completion.

Will County's Chief Circuit Judge Richard Schoenstedt told Joliet Patch that he expects to move into the new building sometime in October.

"I can't imagine we're going to have a lot of issues," Schoenstedt said Monday. "I'm really hoping to have this building open this fall. We're far enough along, as you can see.

"It's going to be very, very, tech-y. I believe this will be the most technologically advanced state courthouse in the country when we open," Schoenstedt said.

He stressed that he was only talking about state courthouses, not federal courthouses.

Schoenstedt took Joliet Patch's editor on a guided tour Monday morning.

As construction moves closer to being finished, the judge said, more and more people around the Joliet area are embracing the project.

Schoenstedt said the new Will County Courthouse, 10 stories tall, is quickly becoming a source of community pride around Joliet. When the new courthouse opens, an average of 2,500 people will use it daily, "plus there's 300 to 500 employees in addition to that," the judge said.

The three hallmarks of the city's largest public construction in decades are: safety, security and space, Schoenstedt said. "Everything is going to be new. The elevators aren't going to break down," he said.

On Dec. 19, 2017, Patch was on hand when roughly 200 Will County politicians, city of Joliet officials and local dignitaries gathered for the ground-breaking ceremony.

The new downtown courthouse is being built at the site of the former First Midwest Bank property near Washington and North Ottawa Streets.

Since January 2018, thousands of highly skilled union laborers have toiled away on the project. On Monday, dozens of mechanical engineers and several painters were inside the building hard at work while a number of welders were working around the outside perimeter.

On any given day, Schoenstedt told Joliet Patch, there's between 150 and 250 union tradesmen bringing the new courthouse one step closer to completion.

The new Will County Courthouse will feature a total of 38 courtrooms. The ninth floor will be left empty for the time being. "The ninth floor will be closed until they need it," Schoenstedt said. "We're going to be able to have three or four extra courtrooms that we can grow into."

The new courthouse will feature two sets of escalators between the first and third floors.

The third floor will feature a large cafeteria and dining area that may turn into a popular gathering spot for courthouse staff, lawyers and their clients.

Schoenstedt told Patch that Will County plans to hire a food vendor to provide daily meals in the new cafeteria. The cafeteria will include soups, sandwiches, salads and prepared foods.

"There will not be a fryer or a grill. We're not doing that," he said.

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, Schoenstedt said, the current four-story courthouse had a cafe area for lawyers and judges to socialize, but it was turned into the present-day Courtroom 308.

"We lost that when we lost the space," he said. "I'd very much like to bring that camaraderie back. A lot happens in a courthouse cafeteria."