Was Saving 1851 Casseday House A Good Idea For Joliet?

JOLIET, IL — Around this time a year ago everyone's spirits were lifted. Joliet's 1851 Casseday House, at the corner of Jackson and Collins Streets, was being saved from the wrecking ball.

Thorntons was granted a special liquor license to allow for on-site consumption of alcohol in exchange for shelling out a few hundred thousand dollars to move the Casseday House to an empty city-owned lot a few blocks away.

A New Jersey-based company that specializes in moving older buildings needed a dozen semi-trailers of equipment from five states — Wisconsin, New York, New Jersey, Texas and North Carolina to get the 169-year-old Joliet house ready for the upcoming move.

"It's like moving a big rock," the company owner told me last year. "It's one million pounds."

It was a sight to see.

On March 23, 2020, the Casseday House was on the move.

When it was delivered to the empty east side lot along Jackson Street near Willard Street, everyone rejoiced, most notably the city's historic preservationists.

After all, they had saved the Casseday House from being turned into blocks of limestone rubble.

It was announced that the Casseday House restoration project would be overseen by the Will County Historical Society, whose director is Sandy Vasko.

In the fall of 2019, Vasko told the newspapers that the Casseday House would become an African American archive and research center.

Now, it's 2021, and the Casseday House could use some serious tender loving care and maybe some windows.

The two-story limestone structure is not looking too good.

While Thorntons covered the costs of the 1851-era house relocation, nobody else apparently had the funds to renovate the Casseday House into an African American history center. So, it's just sitting here, boarded up, without windows, a year later.

In late January, a reader sent me an email about the Casseday House.

"Mr. Ferak: I enjoy reading your columns in the Patch. Keep up the good work. I have a great title for your next column: 'The Casseday House — you moved it, now what?'"

The reader pointed out that the blighted Senor Tequila property on Joliet's west side has drawn considerable notoriety. In January, the Joliet City Council finally designated it as a public nuisance adding to the city's list of troublesome properties targeted for eventual demolition.

"It’s been said lately that the former Senior Tequila building is the biggest eyesore in Joliet," this reader reminded me. "I challenge everyone saying that to drive down to Jackson Street and take a good look at the Casseday House. The home is in horrible disrepair. It’s lacking windows, needs a new roof, doors, sidewalks, landscaping, etc.

"It’s quickly approaching a year that the home's been planted there, and there it sits. The east side deserves better. Is there a plan in place to renovate the home? Is there money available to do so? Or is everyone content with the fact the home was saved from the wrecking ball and that’s just good enough. I’d love to know the answers to those questions. I’m sure a lot of people would."

Last week, I called and left a message with Vasko and her Will County Historical Museum and Research Center. Nobody called me back.

I guess I'm not surprised.

Vasko apparently does not have any good news to share about the Casseday House. The last bit of news posted on her organization's Facebook page occurred last October when the city of Joliet designated the Casseday House as a historical landmark.

"With much fanfare, the house was relocated from its original site at the northeast corner of Jackson and Collins Street to 575 East Jackson Street on March 23, 2020. The Will County Historical Society intends to establish a museum dedicated to local and regional Black history at this location," the city of Joliet website reads.

As pretty much everyone knows, money makes the world go round and right now the Will County Historical Society won't be confused with a bank.

At this point, maybe members of the historical society should start taking turns standing at the busy intersection of Jefferson and Larkin, or at the Interstate 55 exit for Route 30, asking motorists for spare change or cash.

Let's hope someone has more than an idea at this stage to bring the Casseday House back to life. Let's hope they have money, lots and lots of money, otherwise, all this talk about opening a history center will probably never happen during our lifetime.

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