Cadillac Ranch agrees to give up 4 a.m. license, will now close at 3 a.m.
A popular nightclub in Bartlett will permanently close its doors an hour earlier after voluntarily surrendering its 4 a.m. liquor license, village officials say.
In exchange for giving up its extended liquor license — which allowed for alcohol to be served between 8 a.m. and 4 a.m. every day of the week — the Cadillac Ranch, 1175 W. Lake St., has been issued two new liquor licenses.
The village board approved an ordinance Tuesday creating a new license classification that allows for the serving of alcohol between 10 a.m. and 3 a.m. every day of the week.
Village President and local liquor control commissioner Kevin Wallace also agreed to issue a liquor license for Moretti's and the Bartlett Ballroom, which are connected to the nightclub, that allows liquor to be served between 8 a.m. and 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
The Cadillac Ranch has been under scrutiny by the village since February 2012, when a 22-year-old was injured after being shot in the head by an Elgin man at the nightclub.
Police Chief Kent Williams said since then representatives from the Cadillac Ranch have been cooperating with requests to improve safety features. They have installed additional lights in the parking lot, improved security and have even been voluntarily closing at 3 a.m. for about the last six months, village officials said.
“It has all helped,” Williams said. “They truly are a very good corporate citizen.”
Wallace said he is not a fan of 3 or 4 a.m. liquor licenses but felt, after talking to the owner at length, that it was “a vital compromise” for a longtime business.
“They've done everything that they possibly can to make it a much safer institution, from what staff is telling me,” he said.
Village attorney Bryan Mraz said the nightclub's operator, Ala Carte Entertainment, owns about 30 other restaurants and bars in the Chicago area, including some in Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg, where they have found a 3 a.m. license works well.
“It's a baby step,” Mraz said, adding that while village officials pushed for a 2 a.m. license, they considered the “good faith effort” the establishment has put forth to make safety improvements, along with their statement that closing two hours earlier would have “too big an impact on revenue.”
The restaurant had a 4 a.m. liquor license because its predecessor, The Snuggery, had one when it was annexed into the village in 1990.
Williams said because most bars in other towns close at 2 a.m., having the Cadillac Ranch open for another two hours gave people an incentive to drive there. Now, with only one additional hour, he thinks the number of people traveling to the bar will decrease.
“When you take that final hour away ... it's no longer an attractive destination stop after 2 (a.m.), because by the time you get there they're closing up,” he said.