Batavia restaurant seeks video gambling permit

BATAVIA – A popular downtown Batavia restaurant has filed an application with the city of Batavia for a permit to operate video gambling machines.

Riverside Pizza & Pub, 142 W. Wilson St., would become the ninth license-holder in the city to offer video gaming, if approved by the Batavia City Council.

The eighth is Funway Entertainment Center, which though approved by the council, is still awaiting its license from the Illinois Gaming Control Board.

Riverside’s application with the city was filed Tuesday. The restaurant will have fewer hurdles to jump over than Funway to get its video gaming plan into operation.

Funway, 1335 S. River St., needed the city to extend permits for video gambling at businesses holding a liquor license designated for bowling alleys and entertainment centers.

Riverside’s liquor license is under the city’s restaurant classification, already an eligible use for video gambling.

Moreover, Riverside indicated on its application to the city that it possesses a license from the state gaming control board.

Riverside offers video gambling at the other restaurants it operates in St. Charles and South Elgin.

The application shows that the gaming area would be located in the far southwest corner of the restaurant space near the kitchen and adjacent to two pool tables.

The space is currently occupied by two electronic dart boards and two small dining tables. The area is delineated by walls extending a few feet from the south and west walls of the large restaurant space.

Riverside manager Heather Musgrave said the restaurant has been planning for the video gaming area since it opened about a year ago.

The dart boards and tables would be removed to make way for the video terminals, Musgrave said.

An ATM machine on the opposite side of the restaurant near the restrooms would be moved into the gaming area, Musgrave said.

Batavia’s has seven establishments now operating video gaming, each with five of the terminals.

The city lifted its ban on video gambling near the end of 2016, after business owners said they needed to offer gaming to remain competitive.

“People don’t realize how much it helps business and keeps businesses thriving,” Musgrave said.

With a large staff of bartenders and servers, the clearly visible gaming space at Riverside will be well-monitored, Musgrave said.

Mayor Jeff Schielke, who did not support the council’s decision to lift the video gaming ban, said he will support Riverside’s application for video gaming, calling the restaurant a responsible business.

Schielke is worried about potential operators coming to Batavia and attempting to set up independent storefront operations offering nothing more than coffee and targeting senior citizens as patrons.

Meanwhile, Funway’s Bob Hansen was back in front of the council on Tuesday for a conditional use permit to operate the video terminals he plans to install once he receives his state license.

The council approved the amusement center classification for video gambling late last year on a divided vote, and the same fault lines were exposed again.

Meeting as a committee and with two council members absent, aldermen voted 9-3 in favor of the conditional use permit for Funway.

Hansen plans to create a video gaming lounge by transforming a storage area adjacent to the bar in the entertainment center’s 20-lane bowling alley.

Aldermen voting against the plan were careful to say that they respect Hansen and how he operates his business, but are simply opposed to video gambling in Batavia.

“I don’t want to see it expand,” 3rd Ward Alderman Elliot Meitzler said. “I have utmost respect for Funway, but I just don’t want this. I wish it weren’t here.”

Fifth Ward Alderman Abby Beck seemed to be previewing the debate when Riverside’s video gambling application comes before the council.

“It’s going to be really hard for us as a council to really slow down and put the brakes on this,” Beck said. “We won’t be able to say no to someone when we’ve said yes so many times.”

Beck’s 5th Ward colleague, Mark Uher, has proposed that the council put a hard cap on the number of video gaming operators in the city.

Current operators include Speedway, 1495 E. Wilson Street; Crosstown Pub & Grill, 1890 Mill St.; Rosati’s Pizza, 322 E. Wilson St. and the Batavia Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1197, 645 S. River St.

Others include Full Moon Bar & Grill, 113 S. Batavia Ave.; Bulldog’s Cellar, 1 E. Wilson St. and Acquaviva Ristorante, 35 N. Water St.