Joliet council highlights preservation wins: museum opening, grants and community history study

City of Joliet city planner Jane Bernhardt briefed the City Council on May 6 on a year of preservation activity that included grant-funded projects, a newly opened Railroad Museum and work to document Joliet's African American history.

“I'm here tonight to give an update on major initiatives that staff and the city's Historic Preservation Commission are working on to promote our city's heritage and recognize our meaningful places,” Jane Bernhardt, city planner and staff liaison to the Historic Preservation Commission, told the council.

The presentation noted the city's 1990 historic preservation ordinance, the commission's role reviewing certificates of appropriateness and administrative reviews, and that Joliet is a certified local government, which makes it eligible for state and federal preservation grants. Bernhardt highlighted the Railroad Museum, housed in the former Union Depot Tower at the Gateway Transportation Center, which opened in May 2024, and said the project received funding through the state's Certified Local Government (CLG) grant program and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Route 66 grant program.

Bernhardt also described a CLG-funded historic context study focused on Joliet's Black community and a new CLG award to fund oral histories tied to that project. She encouraged residents to attend community interview events scheduled for May 17, June 20 and July 19 at Bicentennial Park to share information about places, people and events important to the region's Black history. “Community members are encouraged to come to one or more upcoming community interview events to share information that they may have on places, people, events, and time periods that are important to understanding the region's Black history,” Bernhardt said.

On the council agenda the same night were a resolution approving a grant agreement with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for the context study project and a separate resolution authorizing a programmatic agreement among the City of Joliet, the Illinois State Historic Preservation Officer and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. City staff explained that the programmatic agreement allows the city, as a certified local government, to conclude required federal environmental reviews for federally funded projects without forwarding each review to state offices, speeding up project approvals when the city is the responsible entity for HUD-funded work.

The council adopted resolutions to accept the Historic Preservation Commission's 2024 annual report and to approve the grant and the programmatic agreement. Mayor Terry Darcy presented proclamations recognizing the Patrick C. Haley Mansion at 17 South Center Street and a restored bungalow at 900 North Rainer for preservation work; the owners accepted the awards during the meeting.

Jeff Bushan, identified in the program as the owner involved with the Patrick C. Haley Mansion restoration, thanked the city and said, “I've had a really great team, and they all contributed. We think it came out great.”

The council also heard that interpretive Route 66 signage, a new Route 66 Park dedication and other downtown interpretive work were supported by the Route 66 grant program, and that the city maintains an online inventory and resources for property owners on the historic preservation webpage.

The council's preservation actions this session primarily formalized grant acceptance and affirmed the commission's annual report. Staff said grant-funded projects already underway will continue to move through design and community outreach phases; the oral-history events are intended to collect first-person accounts that will inform the larger context study and future nominations or interpretive materials.