Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66 Grant-Funded Fire Safety Improvements

Increasing water supply to
PromoteLocal Tourism

Illinois Rock & Roll Museum On Route 66

Amount Awarded: $141,000 | Project Status: Completion Early Summer 2024

Will County allocated $141,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66 to support critical water infrastructure improvements that will support their efforts to provide a new tourism destination in the heart of Joliet.

The Museum faced a significant financial impact due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the postponement of large expenditures and reduced overhead to ensure financial viability. This ARPA-funded project addresses both local infrastructure needs and a renewed effort by local governments to increase tourism in Will County communities. The funds enable accessible water supply to the museum which, in turn, allows the museum to operate safely and re-open to the public. The Museum continues to provide positive economic impact resulting from increased tourism dollars spent in the region and new tourism partnerships.

The ARPA grant project for the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66 is a water supply project. The project has been engineered and approved by the City of Joliet and the Illinois Department of Transportation and is now awaiting final State permits. This project will bring a larger water line feed into the museum that will satisfy the needs for the sprinkler system required by code for fire suppression.

With the preliminary planning components of the project completed, the museum now awaits final permits from the Illinois Department of Transportation for beginning the street construction that will bring larger waterlines from across the street to our building. This target completion date for the project is Spring 2024.