By Bob Okon
Chicago Sun-Times
The Joliet Correctional Center will not be reopened during the upcoming NATO summit in Chicago for emergency housing of prisoners, a state spokeswoman said Wednesday.
Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart last week floated the idea of using the closed Joliet prison later if the number of protesters arrested at the NATO summit exceeds his jail capacity.
But the Joliet prison is off limits for the May 20-21 NATO summit in Chicago, according to an email from Stacey Solano, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Corrections. The state owns the prison, and DOC oversees it.
“Joliet CC is closed and not an option,” Solano emailed in response to an inquiry about the likelihood of the prison being available during the summit.
Asked to elaborate why, Solano simply responded, “IDOC will not be reopening Joliet CC.”
The Joliet Correctional Center has been closed for 10 years, and vandals have been getting into the place, stripping it of copper wire and doing other damage.
The city council discussion was sparked by news stories that appeared in the Herald-News and elsewhere suggesting the prison could reopen and quoting Dart on his interest in the idea.
A spokesman for the sheriff said Wednesday that the idea was in its “infancy stage.”
“It’s one of the many options the sheriff is considering,” spokesman Frank Bilecki said.
He said the sheriff has to prepare for the NATO summit because Cook County jail space is 96 percent full.
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