Lake Zurich distillery to add video gambling and expand
The Lake Zurich village board narrowly voted to allow Copper Fiddle Distillery to host up to five video gambling machines at their meeting Monday night. The distillery's prospective new owner told the board if they allowed him to have video gambling, then he could expand the business.
Ben Boyd, who is in the process of buying the distillery from its original owners Jose Hernandez and Fred Robinson, said that he would purchase the space north of Copper Fiddle, which would nearly double the size of the distillery. Boyd said if they expanded they could have a dedicated live music space in the back rather than having to reconfigure the existing space every time they hosted a band.
“It'll be as good if not better,” Boyd said. “The atmosphere there is great and that's something I'd like to continue.”
Trustee Jonathan Sprawka said he also likes the atmosphere of Copper Fiddle now without video gambling machines and asked if the machines were really necessary for Boyd to expand the distillery.
Boyd said he felt that it was necessary because it would help pay for the expenses of operating a larger space, such as utilities.
The board approved the plan by a vote of 4 to 2. Sprawka and Trustee Mary Beth Euker voted against the plan. Trustees John Shaw, Marc Spacone and Greg Weider voted in favor of the plan. Mayor Tom Poynton, who usually doesn't vote, cast the deciding vote once it was clear not enough trustees supported the plan.
Trustee Jim Beaudoin did not attend the meeting because he had an excused absence, according to village clerk Kathleen Johnson. Beaudoin was charged with a DUI on March 21 after he crashed his car into a sign post and a tree near the intersection of Prairie Lane and Cedar Street in the Heatherleigh subdivision near his Lake Zurich home, according to police reports.
Boyd said if everything went well he would purchase Copper Fiddle Distillery from the original owners in the next two or three weeks. Copper Fiddle Distillery is at 532 W. Route 22 in Lake Zurich.