Joliet City Council on Tuesday approved plans for the expansion of Joliet Catholic Academy (JCA) amid objections from some residents.

The structure will be constructed on the existing JCA at 1200 N. Larkin Ave. campus and the former Our Lady of Angels Retirement Home at 1201 Wyoming Ave. that was recently demolished. JCA has been at the Larkin Avenue location since 1956 and the former retirement home was active between 1960 and 2023, the latter property the high school plans to purchase.

The existing JCA athletic facilities include two baseball fields, two softball fields, a field for track and field and six tennis courts. The high school has been playing their football games off campus at the city’s Memorial Stadium.

JCA expects to complete the expansion project in three separate phases, according to information provided at Tuesday’s meeting. Phase I would include installation of a new multi-purpose athletic field, and construction of eight new tennis courts.

Phase II would include construction of stadium stands and locker rooms for the new multi-purpose athletic field, construction of the east parking lot at Wyoming and Ingalls avenues and resurfacing of the track and practice fields.

Phase III would include renovation of the baseball and softball fields and construction of new pickleball and physical education courts. The football stadium is not expected to be constructed this year.

JCA officials told the city council that the most significant component of this project is the proposed multi-purpose athletic field, which would serve as the home facility for football and soccer games. This prompted some residents to questions whether it would create parking chaos, noise and pollution and lower property values in their residential neighborhood that has been around for more than six decades.

JCA officials said the field would have 5,500 seats with a potential maximum standing room capacity close to 7,000 people, likely for a playoff game. Only 33 percent of more than 530 students enrolled in JCA are from Joliet that charges a yearly tuition of about $15,000.

The site would host between four and eight varsity football games per year. JCA officials said the traffic plan calls for the use of 933 on-campus parking spaces for football games. This would increase the parking on campus from its existing total of 481 spaces by 94 percent.

This prompted councilwoman-at-large Jan Quillman, who voted against the stadium, to question why residents should be inconvenienced just so the school could host between four to eight games per year. JCA officials insist most home varsity football games get less than 3,100 people per game and events outside of football will see much lower attendance. 

Joining Quillman’s “no” vote were councilman-at-large Juan Moreno and Larry Hug, who represents District 1.

“I am very concerned about the residents who live there,” said Quillman. “These people don’t have driveways or alleys. I am asking for residential-only parking (on the street) for residents who live there at no cost. You are disrupting these people and housing values will go down because people don’t want to live by a stadium.

“You are disrupting the whole neighborhood, and I don’t think it is a good idea,” she continued.

According to Ryan Quigley, JCA institutional advancement director, the high school has raised nearly $12.75 million for its Legacy Fields campaign. He claims there is $5.3 million cash-in hand to purchase the former Our Lady of Angels nursing home property and to fund Phase I construction. He said another $5.5 million has been raised in cash and pledges for endowment purposes, exceeding the goal of $3 million.

Sister Jeanne Bessette, president of the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate, who was instrumental in the November 2022 decision to shut down Our Lady of Angels Retirement Home, said JCA is the winningest football program in the State of Illinois without its own stadium.

“I believe JCA is an asset to Joliet and Will County,” said Bessette.

Ricky Guerrero with the Joliet Titans, who practices at JCA, said having a place to train “means everything to a team.”

“These kids are a positive force in our community where they learn to stay active and make a positive impact,” he said.

But Vivian Brown of Joliet said when she moved into her neighborhood 25 years ago, it was a quiet residential neighborhood. She fears the stadium will change all that.

“Consider the opposition of people in the neighborhood who pay taxes and support our schools, but do not want a stadium,” she said.