By Marney Simon | Bugle Staff
The Joliet Park District has taken the first step toward finding a new occupant for its bar and restaurant space in the district facility on Jefferson Street.
On Aug. 30, the Joliet Park District held a special meeting, putting forward plans to once again open the doors inside the Inwood Athletic Club’s restaurant facility.
The Park District Board of Commissioners voted yes to approve a new vendor for the restaurant space, kicking off the contract negotiations. The tentative new tenant is Dock Rotz Tavern from Minooka, set to open a sister site to its current larger scale restaurant. The tentative new name for the site is “The Dock at Inwood.”
Dock Rotz Tavern’s Minooka location serves specialty drinks, craft beer, and traditional bar fare including wings, burgers, sandwiches, and wraps. The restaurant has been operating in Minooka since 2013.
“We are really excited,” said Rick Trafton, who co-owns Dock Rotz with Carrie Beamish. “We have had our place in Minooka for five years and when the opportunity in Joliet came up, we thought it would be a good fit for us and the Park District.
“We feel we will be a perfect fit and we will bring our full service bar and restaurant there and meet the needs of the Park District as well.”
Once the contract negotiations are complete, the new restaurant is set to fill the space in eight to 12 weeks.
Trafton said the Joliet location will get a full makeover once they take over the building.
“We are finalizing the lease now, which won’t be a problem,” Trafton said. “Once we get that, we will give it the same barnwood and barn metal feel as the Minooka location and that should take about 12 weeks.”
Traditions Restaurant and Pub filled spot since 2008.
The restaurant was shuttered on July 22, after the pub’s lease expired and the Park District and restaurant owners declined to renew.
Since then, the Park District has been looking to fill the vacant space, which for the past ten years has served as a hot spot before Joliet Catholic Academy football games, University of St. Francis football games, and other sporting events at Inwood.