Hosey: Lock up American Rescue Plan in Old Joliet Prison

If things aren’t back to normal, they’re getting pretty close.

You hardly see anyone wearing masks anymore. Restaurants and bars draw crowds, and there’s even an abundance of toilet paper and Lysol on store shelves.

It’s almost like this global pandemic never even happened. Except it did. And the evidence is right there in the loss of gambling revenue suffered by the city of Joliet.

Joliet was down nearly $10 million in gaming money in 2020, dropping all the way from $17.3 million from the year prior to $7.5 million.

That was a big hit but the city weathered the storm and can expect its two casinos to rake in the cash like they were doing before COVID-19 came to town. And on top of that, Joliet has another $11.1 million in the bank and $11.1 million on the way, thanks to the American Rescue Plan.

There’s so much that can be done with this money. The city council now just has to figure out how to spend it.

The funds could help small businesses that struggled to survive the economic shutdown, or assist those who dealt with sickness or unemployment, or to essential workers who risked their lives to do their jobs, or failing that, the Rialto Square Theatre. Because why not?

The Rialto did get the short end of the government subsidy last year when the city slashed the $475,000 it had budgeted for the theater in half. To make matters worse, the city only budgeted a $375,000 bailout for the Rialto this year, and now the theater’s board wants the money back. But why stop there?

Restoring the 2020 and 2021 cuts to the Rialto funding would hardly make a dent in the American Rescue Plan money, which is why the city should really do things right and give the theater the whole $22.2 million.

The Rialto could use the money as an endowment, and then maybe wouldn’t keep coming back every year looking for another handout.

If the Rialto only gets the $337,500 it lost out on the last two years, on the other hand, it would leave plenty more to go around for other things, like providing an even more generous going away present to a fired city attorney.

Erstwhile City Attorney Marty Shanahan only got $200,000 after he lost his job last year. That’s not even half what the Rialto expected, and with the American Rescue Plan it only makes sense to make sure he can collect some more, maybe even as high as $1 million.

With the Rialto and Marty Shanahan out of the way, there should still be another $20 million or so left, and that’s more than enough to spruce up the Old Joliet Prison, and we all know it could certainly use some sprucing.

This American Rescue Plan money couldn’t have come at a better time, at least as far as the Old Joliet Prison goes. The city has already spent $181,000 on it this year alone, and is expected to shell out another $211,500. If that sounds like a lot, think about the $10 million estimate to stabilize just a half dozen prison buildings and the millions more to demolish others.

Come to think of it, we might as well forget about Shanahan and the Rialto. What the council needs to do is spend the whole $22.2 million on the old prison. They could make it the greatest shuttered correctional facility in the world. It’s the only way we can ever recover as a community.

• Joe Hosey is the editor of The Herald-News. You can reach him at 815-280-4094, at jhosey@shawmedia.com or on Twitter @JoeHosey.