Your Joliet Taxes Put To Use: New Downtown City Square Well Underway: 10 Photos

JOLIET, IL ? For more than a year, it's been virtually impossible to drive a vehicle through the heart of downtown Joliet because of all the construction along North Chicago Street near the Rialto Square Theatre. But there's good news to finally report.

Substantial progress has been made this summer as Austin Tyler Construction continues to build Joliet's new City Square. City manager Beth Beatty and Mayor Terry D'Arcy envision the new City Square will become a tremendous destination for residents and visitors as Joliet plans to hold numerous community events here.

On Wednesday, Joliet Patch produced a Facebook live video showing Joliet's Welsch's Ready Mix concrete company delivering cement for the Austin Tyler workers.

The city of Joliet anticipates that its new City Square will be completely finished and ready for visitors come spring or summer of 2026 ? just in time for the 100-year anniversary celebrations of Historic Route 66 and the Rialto Square Theatre.

In July 2024, Joliet City Councilwoman Jan Quillman informed her colleagues that she was initially unsure whether she would vote in favor of the Austin Tyler Construction contract, but in the end, she, too, was a yes vote on spending $20 million "for a town square."

"I'm tired of people saying, 'Oh, Joliet. Oh, Joliet," Quillman remarked. "I've been wanting a town square for a very long time, and I was against this ... because ... I just could not understand how we could do all this at once or maybe in the future we could time this better so it would be more user-friendly to all the families that want to come downtown to Joliet because right now there's not that much down here for people and families to do.

"And if we can attract them in some other way in addition to this, this would be an asset to our downtown and I agree with Suzanna (Ibarra), every small town I ever went, they have a small (square) where everybody goes on Friday nights to listen to the band or fireworks."