Public Nuisance In Joliet's Wooded Creek Subdivision

JOLIET, IL — With one five-bath, 5,500-square-foot home currently for sale at well above $1 million, Joliet's Wooded Creek subdivision near Black Road and Interstate 55 features many of the city's most elegant homes — except for the one eyesore at 606 Rookery Street.

After three years of frustration for Wooded Creek subdivision residents who take enormous pride in their gated Joliet community, the empty house at 606 Rookery was formally declared a public nuisance by Joliet's City Council last week, according to city manager Jim Capparelli.

On Monday, Joliet Patch interviewed some of the neighbors on Rookery Street who were pleased to learn that the empty problem house is being condemned.

One woman said the inside of the structure is in such horrible shape that the only way to save the brick house is to do a total interior gut.

Otherwise, it might be best for the next property owner to simply tear it down and build a new house in its place, the neighbor explained.

As for the property's amenities, there is a large in-ground swimming pool occupying the backyard — although there were puddles of green slime inside the pool Monday afternoon.

According to documents shared with the Joliet City Council for the public nuisance vote, Michael and Lynette Melnick are the property owners.

"This vacant single-family home suffered a substantial fire on September 10, 2019. The home was in foreclosure, which was delayed through COVID," the public nuisance reports reflect.

According to the city's memo, the bank's foreclosure case was recently dismissed for 606 Rookery.

"We have had contact with one of the owners, who is unable to make the repairs," Joliet's council was advised. "The other owner lives out of state and has not responded to any of our letters. The city has had to maintain the exterior of this property. There are numerous openings on the home that have been boarded up for the last 3 years since the fire."

According to Joliet's City Hall, no permits are on file, and the property is still sitting heavily damaged, and it's a blight to the neighborhood.