Multithemed escape-room business to open in Hoffman Estates

Hoffman Estates officials Monday unanimously approved a multithemed escape-room business in the basement of a four-story medical office building.

South Elgin-based Panic Escape Room plans to open five different escape-room options in 2,888 square feet of the 28,661-square-foot basement of 990 Grand Canyon Parkway in early September. A sixth is expected to be added during the winter.

Escape rooms are often used as corporate team-building activities in which small groups of people collaborate to find a way out of an apparently locked room. No one is ever truly locked in a room during these entertainment-based activities.

The themes proposed for the facility are "Pay Day - The Jewelry Heist," "The Conjuring - Inside the Warrens' House," "Hostel - Always Travel Together," "Split 2 - The Return of Daniel" and "Hangover - Last Call 2."

Each game calls for 4 to 8 people to play simultaneously.

Representatives of the 2-year-old company said that many people have traveled a long distance to their South Elgin location. The Hoffman Estates facility is aimed to be more convenient to a large percentage of them.

A couple of nearby residents - including the president of the Butter Creek Condo Association - wrote to the village about their concerns with such a business and received replies from village staff addressing those concerns.

Though no residents attended Monday's vote, village board members emphasized that there would be no food or alcohol served and that the business wasn't expected to generate any outside noise.

The number of people that would occupy the facility at any one time, including employees, would never exceed 49, representatives said.

The hours will be 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday.