$100,000 Taxpayer Subsidies For Downtown Joliet Businesses?
JOLIET — The Joliet City Council is expected to vote at Tuesday night’s meeting on a proposal from City Hall staff to create a business continuity grant for downtown Joliet’s Chicago Street businesses that are struggling financially because of the ongoing street and public utility improvement projects.
According to a Council memo, Joliet approved an initial allocation of $250,000 from the general fund to establish the Business Continuity Grant, where funds of no more than $100,000 will be disbursed to qualified applicants, under the program parameters and meeting approval from the Council or city manager Beth Beatty.
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For grants of more than $25,000, Beatty has authorization to fund the first $25,000, city reports show.
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Joliet is proposing the taxpayer-funded subsides for various downtown Joliet businesses because Chicago Street has been torn up and off-limits to motorists since May, when Joliet’s $20 million underground street repair project began, a project that could last until the spring of 2026.
“There has been and will continue to be a disruption to Chicago Street businesses caused by a series of construction projects downtown, starting with the sidewalk vault repairs and water line replacement in 2023, the Chicago Street modernization, and City Square development in 2024 and 2025,” the Council’s resolution outlined. “The City wishes to support small businesses that have experienced revenue losses due to these construction projects; and the City developed the Business Continuity Grant Program to provide financial assistance to businesses in need of recovery.”
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In August, Joliet Patch published a story headlined: “Austin Tyler Takes Over Joliet’s Downtown City Center: 10 Photos.”
“This is Austin Tyler territory, and dozens of construction workers with Austin Tyler were busy on Friday, digging apart North Chicago Street in front of the Rialto Square Theatre and the adjacent CUT 158 Chophouse. The city fountain at the Van Buren Plaza has been a casualty of the Joliet City Square project. The fountain has been dismantled into piles of rubble,” the story read.
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