By Dwight Casimere
A new multi-million-dollar plan to redevelop the abandoned U.S. Steel site on the city’s east side was announced by Joliet Mayor Bob O’Dekirk at his annual State of the City address on Wednesday. The 67-acre site is proposed to be transformed into ECKO campus for implementing new technologies for plastic and metal. The center will include facilities to recycle used electric car batteries and to repurpose plastic for industrial use. According to the mayor, the project will bring hundreds of thousands of new jobs to the area and bring in millions of dollars in new revenue in a joint commitment between the State of Illinois, the City of Joliet, and U.S. Steel.
In his remarks to the Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mayor O’Dekirk also shared that the city has improved in every area for 2021, with revenues and cash reserves nearly double for things like property tax revenues, increase property valuations and business license revenues.
An added plus was the revelation that, while crime has increased in Chicago and many other areas around the state, the crime rate in Joliet has gone down.
“For cities at populations of 100,000 or more around the country, Joliet has ranked no. 8 in overall crime reduction. That is a credit to the rank and file of our Joliet Police Department and their diligent efforts at reducing crime in our community. It is also a significant national recognition for Joliet, as it puts us far ahead of many cities around the country of comparable size.”
Progresses over the past year in things like infrastructure and business development have already started to show signs of improvement.
“The city is getting an entire overhaul of its water delivery system. Not just in terms of pumping water in from Chicago, but in a complete removal and replacement of every lead pipe in the entire city of Joliet.”
Transportation is also a part of the tangible improvements that residents saw unfolding in 2021. “The Houbolt Bridge will be opening soon. Major intersections in and around the city will also be undergoing a substantial overhaul and improvement. This will improve truck traffic flow.
“We’re seeing development in the business sector that was surprising. For example, we thought that the Louis Joliet Mall would undergo the same type of woes that we were hearing in major shopping malls around the country. That has turned out not to be the case. Louis Joliet Mall is at 90% occupancy with new retail clients like Chick-fil-A, Raisin’ Cane and Planet Fitness and Olive Garden.
The mayor also pointed to plans by Hollywood Casino to overhaul and move into the new Cullen development.
Plans to overhaul and redevelop the old Joliet Prison are moving ahead Volunteers among Joliet’s citizenry have been an integral part of improving the future for the city, the mayor pointed out.
“The future looks bright for Joliet. This would not have been possible without the hard work and foresight of our Economic Development Committee, which I made up entirely of volunteers who have worked tirelessly to enact improvements for our city.
“With their foresight and energy, we have managed to accomplish many things that naysayers said couldn’t be done. Instead of waiting for things to come to Joliet, we’ve taken the reins of the horse in hand and moved things forward,” said Mayor O’Dekirk. The entire Mayor O’DeKirk’s address can be seen at www.thetimesweekly.com
