Evil Intentions Haunted House to return to Elgin at new location

Evil Intentions Haunted House, which left Elgin for Maple Park two years ago, is planning a return to the city.

Formerly located at the former Elgin Casket Co. building off Bluff City Boulevard for nearly 20 years, the business now wants to move into the 1800s-era Heider Electric Supply Co. — a proposal that won the unanimous backing of the Elgin Planning and Zoning Commission at its Monday night meeting.

Business owner Mike Fitzpatrick and Nicholas Heider, representing his family as the property owners, appeared at the meeting seeking a conditional use permit for the five-story, 21,000-square-foot building at 80 N. State St., north of Highland Avenue.

“This request is about the adaptive reuse of a historic, vacant building downtown, investment in downtown, increased economic activity and creating another destination that encourages people to explore downtown Elgin,” said Colleen Barrons, who spoke on behalf of Berk Arslan of Call Berk Realty and Management, which has been working on the project.

“Nightmare on Chicago Street has already established Elgin as a regional destination during the Halloween season. (Evil Intentions) creates a permanent attraction and another reason for visitors to come downtown, extending that momentum to encourage repeat visitors and support the businesses that already call downtown home,” Barrons said.

It’s estimated the venue will attract about 25,000 visitors during the Halloween season and generate about $1 million for the local economy, she said.

The haunted house is “consistently recognized as one of the premier haunted attractions in the country,” Barrons said.

It attracts between 100 and 300 customers per day, Senior Planner Damir Latinovic said. “However, that peaks the weekend before Halloween. They estimate 2,500 customers can visit in one day,” he said.

About 75% of guests order tickets online and receive a specific time slot so the company has the ability to control crowds, he said.

Visitors will enter through a queue area at the building’s north end, an area that can accommodate about 1,000 people and allow five to seven people to enter every 60 seconds, Latinovic said. The haunted house tour will use all five stories of the building and take about 30 minutes to complete.

Because of a law that took effect last month prohibiting local governments from imposing minimum parking requirements on development projects within a half mile or 2,640 feet of a train station, the company won’t need to comply with city parking mandates, as it’s within walking distance of the East Chicago Street Metra station.

However, the company does want to address parking because they want to ensure patrons don’t seek out spaces in the surrounding neighborhoods, Latinovic said. Customers who buy tickets online will be directed to park in two public lots on the east side of the Fox River and will be shuttled to the building by buses that will unload customers on Washington Street, he said.

Staff will be on hand at the parking lots to oversee the shuttles. With the whole experience lasting about an hour, parking will have a high turnover rate, Latinovic said.

If the public lots are filled, the company has also secured 360 parking spaces at a business on North State Street, he said.

Customers purchasing tickets at the door will be able to park at two public parking lots on Highland and State streets, he added.

Only a few changes will be made to the building’s exterior. The majority of the changes needed will be on the inside, he said.

The haunted house operates for six weeks beginning in late September. Eventually, Fitzpatrick wants to open the venue year-round with other attractions like escape rooms and a horror-themed bar on the first floor.

For now, they will have 120 employees, including actors, make-up artists and set designers. The company creates a new experience every year and has staff working throughout the year.

Hours will be 7 to 10 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays and 7 p.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays.

“We were kind of sad when you left for Maple Park, but you hit it right on the head, bringing it back to Elgin in this location,” Commissioner Erik Bosque said. “It’s going to be successful. It’s going to bring a lot of people to Elgin. I’m excited.”

• Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The (Elgin) Courier-News.