The long-abandoned St. Mary Carmelite Catholic Church in downtown Joliet, Ill., may be converted into senior-citizen housing instead of being demolished, reported the Chicago Tribune.
Chicago-based Celadon Holdings has plans to renovate the church and develop a 60-unit residential facility with the top units enjoying the gothic ceiling of the church, said Scott Henry, a Celadon principal. […]
Plans are preliminary, but when another property the company was looking at in Joliet did not work out, city officials pointed Celadon to the St. Mary site.
“There is a strong desire in the city to save the building,” Henry said of the church, whose steeple is a local icon.
Last week, the Joliet Land Use Committee approved the project’s concept. Federal tax credits would offset the project’s $20 million price tag, Henry said. Groundbreaking could be in 6 to 12 months, he said.
The church, which sits on Route 66, has long been a part of the Joliet’s skyline. A photo of the distinctive-looking church is here.
According to the report, Celadon Holdings also is looking for other structures along Route 66 to renovate for housing, including old hotels.
This is the correct link to the Tribune article (at least until it gets archived); the one provided above leads to a dead page notice.
https://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-09-07/news/ct-met-joliet-church-20110905_1_senior-housing-joliet-catholic-high-school-doug-delaney