About 100 people came to a community meeting at Joliet Catholic Academy, where school leaders on Wednesday detailed plans for an on-campus football stadium and other new sports facilities.

The football stadium was the main attraction, however, because of its potential to bring hundreds of cars into the neighborhood on Friday game nights.

“The big problem I’m seeing is the traffic on Friday nights,” resident Greg Piskur said.

JCA hopes to get approval from the city of Joliet for its plans by December and wants to begin construction in the spring.

But construction will start with a turf field and new tennis courts, with stadium construction dependent on fundraising.

JCA President and Principal Jeff Budz at one point referred to “the first game – maybe two years from now or sooner, depending on fundraising."

The turf field would be used for football practices and soccer games until a stadium could be built around it to accommodate football fans.

The school is in the midst of a capital campaign that has raised $12.5 million, with $5.5 million dedicated to the new athletic facilities.

School sports are played on campus, located along Ingalls and Larkin avenues, except for the legendary football program.

JCA football is played at Memorial Stadium on Jefferson Street, an off-campus experience that has become increasingly rare in high school sports.

“We are the only Will County high school without a multi-purpose turf field,” Ryan Quigley, institutional advancement director for JCA, said.

The proposed JCA stadium would provide seating for 5,500 compared to 10,000 at Memorial Stadium.

Most JCA games draw crowds of 3,000 or less, with the exceptions being games against Providence Catholic High School and Morris High School, Quigley said.

The biggest crowds in the past 10 years were a 2023 game against Providence that drew 7,500 and a 2024 game against Morris that drew 5,300, Quigley said.

“We live in a different world now,” Quigley said, pointing to crowds of 12,000 that came to games in the early 2000s.

Quigley said JCA plans to expand parking to the point that it will have more room for cars than what is available now at Memorial Stadium.

But neighbors were concerned whether JCA was taking into account the problems they already face from overflow traffic from the school.

“You need to know what we know,” said neighbor Joyce Cabay.

Cabay called the JCA plans “magnificent.” But, she asked, “Will you do your due diligence?”

The school has done two traffic studies – one in June and another last week.

The second study was done after resident Jori Gura argued that JCA needed to look at traffic during the school year.

Gura, who has been an outspoken critic of the plan, said the second study did not take into account 3 p.m. traffic when JCA and two nearby schools let out students for the day.

“Those aren’t true traffic studies,” Gura said. “No one’s taking into account how many people live in the neighborhood and how many cars come through.”

There were optimistic comments at the meeting, too.

Annette Jelinek, who lives close to the school, called JCA “phenomenal neighbors. I have 100% trust in you.”

Jelinek raised the prospect of what else could be used for the site if JCA did not build the stadium.

“I would rather have you there and have something that is good for our neighborhood,” she said to Budz and Quigley.

The football stadium and other sports facilities would go on nine acres formerly occupied by the Our Lady of Angels Retirement Home along Ingalls and Wyoming avenues. JCA has an agreement to acquire the site.

Attendees at the meeting included JCA employees and others with connections to the school.

JCA staff member Mary Ragusa told residents that the school plans would be an improvement for the school as well as the neighborhood

“I think you have to appreciate our wanting to do more, our wanting to do better,” Ragusa said.

Budz and Quigley noted the expansion plan encompasses more than a football stadium and would modernize school sports facilities.

Quigley said JCA, which has an enrollment of 562 students, needs an on-campus stadium and improved sports facilities “to stay competitive” with public and private schools.

“JCA offers a 21st-century education,” Quigley said. “We need to do that for our extracurricular activities as well.”

Attendees at the meeting included JCA employees and others with connections to the school.