BishopAccountability.org

Shuttered Joliet Church Could Become Restaurant, Apartment Complex

By Shannon Antinori
Patch
February 02, 2015

http://patch.com/illinois/joliet/shuttered-joliet-church-could-become-restaurant-apartment-complex-0

St. Mary’s Carmelite Church on Ottawa Street has been vacant since 1992.

A shuttered downtown Joliet church could get a new life as a restaurant, Mayor Tom Giarrante said last week.

A developer has secured funding to purchase St. Mary Carmelite Church, 113 N. Ottawa St., and its rectory, Giarrante said.

While neither Giarrante nor Community and Economic Development Director Jim Haller would identify the developer, both said plans call for a restaurant in the historic limestone church and apartments in the rectory.

Haller said the developer has a tentative closing date set for April, and has formed a partnership with a restaurateur looking to convert the 133-year-old church into a restaurant.

“We’re very hopeful that (the developer) can keep the property on the tax rolls and that it will remain the destination it’s meant to be,” Haller said.

Haller said the property is within a downtown TIF district and could be eligible for grant funding for renovation and restoration efforts.

“We told him we would help any way we can,” Haller said, adding that the developer would live on site in the apartments.

Built out of Joliet limestone in 1882, the Carmelite church has been vacant for more than 20 years.

In 2010, the church gained notoriety as the site of a suicide attempt by the Rev. Alejandro Flores, a Diocese of Joliet priest facing child sexual abuse allegations. Flores, who was seriously injured after jumping from the church’s choir loft, pleaded guilty to criminal sexual assault and was deported to his native Bolivia in 2013.

In 2012, plans by developer Scott Henry to convert the church into senior housing faced opposition, and a lack of funding shelved the $22 million project in 2013.

Henry reportedly put the property up for auction in 2013, and Haller said the new developer had plans to visit the site over the weekend and begin cleanup, including the removal of auctions signs.

By Saturday, the signs were gone.

Both Haller and Giarrante said they were hopeful the new project will come to fruition.

“I think you’re going to see some activity there over the next two months,” Haller said. “We’re hopeful that everything goes according to plan.”




.


Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.