EV charging docks coming to Old Joliet Prison

Motorists traveling in electric vehicles will be able to charge up at the Old Joliet Prison this summer.

The Joliet City Council last week voted to accept a $117,000 state grant that funds installation of up to six EV charging docks.

The city is putting all the docks at the Old Joliet Prison, switching from an original plan that would have put three of them at the Broadway Greenway park.

“They’re all going to the prison site,” Public Works Director Greg Ruddy said Wednesday. “We think they’ll get more use there.”

Ruddy said the docks will likely be in place by July.

The state grant is aimed at accommodating Route 66 travelers in electric vehicles for an expected tourism boost in 2026, which is the 100th anniversary of the historic highway.

The Broadway Greenway on Broadway Street, also Route 53, is on the Route 66 path, and the Old Joliet Prison on Collins Street is not. But the city considers the former Joliet Correctional Center the biggest attraction for Route 66 tourists who come through town.

Ruddy said visitors to the Old Joliet Prison, which hosts events and activities, are likely to spend more time at the site than at the Broadway Greenway, increasing the likelihood that they will use an EV charging station.

A vote on the grant was tabled twice since early April with the council’s Public Service Committee asking questions about maintenance cost for EV docks and what use was being made of an EV station installed last year at the city’s Ottawa Street parking deck.

The committee made no recommendation on the grant before the council vote May 7.

The council approved the grant without discussion in a 7-1 vote with Public Service Committee Chairman Larry Hug voting no. Hug has opposed city installation of EV stations, arguing that it should be left to the private market.