Mayor O’Dekirk Announces Plans for a 17-Screen Movie Theater
On Monday, hundreds packed into the Joliet Renaissance Center for Mayor Bob O'Dekirk's annual State of the City speech. Within his speech he forecasted expectations for the year as well as the ground-breaking plan to build a first-class theater, with 17 movie screens, in Joliet.
According to www.patch.com, the theater is to be built on the 265-acre piece of land along the frontage road near Interstate 55 and Interstate 80 called “Rock Run Crossing.” The open land is located behind the Joliet Junior College campus off of Houbolt Road. The mayor emphasized that the upcoming development is not considered a shopping mall venture but rather a mixed-use development.
"It will be a 75,000-square-foot facility which includes 17 movie screens, over 4,000 seats. It will have a 4DX and ScreenX theater experience. Apparently, screens are going to surround you. It's a whole new movie experience that is coming. They have a VIP lounge, dining and luxury seats. This is a high-end project coming to the city of Joliet,” said O’Dekirk.
Additionally O’Dekirk made more promise, comparing the projectto be that of one you would see in the city.
"And, I'll be frank with you, these are the types of things, to have a foreign company come in, this is what you see in Downtown Chicago or in Oak Brook or Naperville. Well, it's coming to Joliet."
Many are happy to see the “Rock Run Crossing” land finally being put to use after several proposed projects and city hold-outs. Even O’Dekirk himself admitted to being happy to see a project finally coming to fruition.
“I think it's underreported what the city has and hasn't done. And the fact that we said no to logistics on that site when our neighbors to the west, Shorewood, had built a string of warehouses. Channahon's building warehouses, built truck stops, and it isn't being reported by the local media,” said O’Dekirk. “Give the city credit that we aren't taking trucks everywhere and certainly held out, in this instance and I'm glad we did."
