‘A lot of opportunity here’: Joliet has new voices promoting downtown, planning big events

Joliet has two new sets of eyes to overlook the future of downtown and beyond at a unique time for the city.

In recent weeks the city has hired Ann Sylvester, who has worked 25 years in Chicago overseeing operations of big events that include the Chicago Air and Water Show and Taste of Chicago, as Joliet’s first cultural affairs director.

Meanwhile, the Joliet City Center Partnership has hired Emmanuel Lopez, who brings his own unique background that includes being a former University of Oklahoma rugby player.

They come to Joliet at a time when the city is creating a new downtown square and prepares to be a destination center next year during the 100th anniversary of historic Route 66, which runs through downtown.

Lopez demonstrated his own commitment to community involvement last weekend when he volunteered as a target for the dunk tank at the New Orleans North Mardi Gras-style event downtown.

Now 39, Lopez said his last dunk tank experience was in his early 20s and expected the New Orleans North experience to be more painful.

“I was an athlete my whole life, so pretty much name it and I’ve broken it or concussed it,” he said.

That sort of gung-ho spirit should buy Lopez some respect as he takes over the organization charged with promoting the city’s downtown and adjoining business districts.

Sylvester, meanwhile, comes to Joliet with her own impressive credentials.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work for 25 years on some really amazing events in Chicago,” Sylvester said.

Sylvester served as deputy commissioner of operations and permits for the city of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events,

In addition to working on the opening of Millenium Square, Sylvester has overseen operations and logistics for Chicago events that attract millions of people, including the Chicago Air and Water Show and Taste of Chicago.

“I feel my background is very well developed,” Sylvester said. “Bringing that to Joliet, I feel there are a lot of opportunities.”

In Joliet, she takes on the challenge of creating a schedule of events that will attract people to the new city square downtown and staging areas in other parts of the city.

Since coming to Joliet two weeks ago, Sylvester said she is no less busy than she was in Chicago.

“I’m involved with a lot of meetings, trying to meet a lot of people,” she said.

Sylvester grew up in the Cook County suburb of La Grange, giving her deep roots in the Chicago region.

Lopez was born in Chicago. But his family moved to San Diego, California when he was a boy and then again to Tulsa, Oklahoma, which led him to attend the University of Oklahoma.

A big fan of Sooner football, Lopez for the last nine years was president of University of Oklahoma Club of Chicago. The position put him in place to create scholarships and also to arrange game day viewing events at Chicago-area restaurants and bars for Oklahoma-Texas football games.

Lopez said he was able to get as many as 250 Oklahoma Sooner fans to the viewing events at Chicago-area venues, an experience that should help him as he stages events for downtown Joliet with the City Center Partnership.

He comes to Joliet from the Hispanic Alliance of Career Enhancement, an organization devoted to advancing professional development. Lopez said he worked with organizations as large as the National Football League to create access to diverse pools of talent.

He also previously worked with the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce as its director of membership.

Sylvester said she plans to use her experience to showcase life in Joliet and the interests of people who live here.

“There’s a lot of diversity here,” Sylvester said. “There’s a lot of people here. I think there’s an opportunity to showcase that.”