Joliet mayor calls for license denial on Thorntons deal

Joliet Mayor Bob O’Dekirk wants the city to deny a liquor license for a future Thorntons gas station, potentially unraveling a deal designed to save the Casseday House.

The 19th-century limestone house sits at Collins and Jackson streets on a site that Thorntons wants to develop into a gas station.

The Joliet City Council has approved a deal with Thorntons, which would put up $300,000 to save the house on the condition it gets a liquor license and video gambling terminals for the gas station.

The mayor’s recommendation to deny the license goes to the council for a vote Tuesday.

O’Dekirk could not be reached Thursday evening.

But in a memo to the council, the mayor stated the license should not be granted, calling it bad policy and contrary to a city ordinance.

The mayor also serves as the city’s liquor commissioner.

“The Office of the Liquor Commissioner has in the past received requests from gas stations which are seeking to sell packaged goods,” the memo states. “These requests have repeatedly been denied, as they would violate local ordinance.”

O’Dekirk also said in the memo that the Class A license sought by Thorntons, which allows sales and consumption of liquor on site, should be eliminated.

The City Council in October rejected a proposal to phase out the Class A license.

What Thorntons really wants is video gambling at the gas station. Company representatives said Thorntons needs the liquor license to comply with state video gaming law requiring that establishments that have gambling also sell liquor. They said the station would keep a can of warm beer at a high price on premises to comply with the law but also discourage consumption.

O’Dekirk’s memo states that “using a liquor license as a pretext for video gaming at a gas station sets a problematic and unnecessary precedent.”

The mayor’s recommendation to deny the license caught supporters of the Thorntons project off guard.

“I’m a bit stymied by it because I thought this was a done deal,” said Mary Beth Gannon, who led what had appeared to be a successful effort to save the Casseday House.

Council member Bettye Gavin, whose district includes the potential Thorntons site, said she was just learning about the mayor’s recommendation.