Buffalo Grove OKs new liquor license for OTB
Questions still hover over the future of Hawthorne Racecourse’s Buffalo Grove OTB operation, which is looking to move from its location at 301 N. Milwaukee Ave.
But one issue for now at least is a little less murky.
The betting parlor has been running as a stand-alone OTB facility since Adam’s Rib and Ale House — the restaurant which shared the Milwaukee Avenue site — ceased operations about two months ago because of a foreclosure.
That will change when the OTB adds catering services provided by Progressive Management, which obtained a Class I liquor license after a 4-2 vote from the Buffalo Grove village board Monday.
Progressive Management is a known quantity in Buffalo Grove, since it currently operates the banquet facility at the village-owned Arboretum Club, where it also has a liquor license.
But even with its reputation village board members Andrew Stein and Beverly Sussman opposed the new license.
Stein said that he has looked at the special use that applies to the property and considered the fact that the original entities that existed there — the owners of Adam’s and Intertrack Partners — are no longer in existence.
“I’m really having a hard time grasping awarding a liquor license to somebody where the special use, I really think, doesn’t apply anymore,” he said. “I can’t support awarding a liquor license under these circumstances.”
For the majority of board members, Progressive’s reputation paved the way for approval.
“I would have more concern if it wasn’t Progressive,” said Village President Jeffrey Braiman.
Trustee Jeffrey Berman said he appreciates Stein’s concern, but was more comfortable since the license is for Progressive, not tied to that specific location.
Village Manager Dane Bragg, when asked by Trustee Lester Ottenheimer whether the arrangement would be temporary or permanent, said it is “temporary” in the sense that Hawthorne Racecourse’s operation at that facility is temporary.
“That would not preclude Progressive Management from seeking that license again in the future if the board desired to allow that for that purpose or other purposes,” Bragg added.
Officials say the ordinance provides Progressive Management with essentially a catering license, as well as the option to provide catering at any other business. Braiman said it would also allow Progressive to cater a function at Village Hall as well.
A Class I license authorizes the sale of alcohol when “served and consumed off the premises as an incidental part of a catering food service that serves prepared meals.” It excludes serving snacks as the primary meal, and does not require having a caterer retail license issued by the Illinois Liquor Control Commission.