Amboy business owner plans to develop two entertainment, amusement sites

AMBOY — An Amboy grocery store owner hopes to create a place for people to have fun in the community by opening two new businesses along Route 52 between Amboy and Sublette.

Sanjay Desai, owner of Amboy Food and Liquor, is developing two sites, each geared toward a different age group. Pub & Patio is planned to be a bar, restaurant and entertainment space for those 21 and older; Fun on 52, also focused on activities and entertainment, is geared toward children and young families, Desai said in an interview with Shaw Local.

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Sanjay Desai, who owns the grocery and liquor store in Amboy, talks Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, about plans to build a go-kart track and banquet facility south of the city. Desai is also making plans for an indoor entertainment area near Woodhaven Lakes. (Alex T. Paschal)

The projects are expected to cost upward of $6 million. After construction is complete, he plans on hiring about 15 to 20 people to run the facilities on a day-to-day basis, Desai said.

It’s going to be something different and unique, Desai said. He hopes that it will attract visitors from surrounding areas to Amboy and Sublette.

Desai is first focusing on Pub & Patio, formerly Sublette Saloon at 1831 Tower Road, with plans to open December 2025. He will do some remodeling to the existing building, but the real work will happen in the adjacent lot, Desai said.

There, he’s drawn up design plans for an estimated 11,000-square-foot building that will feature a six-lane bowling alley, a mini golf course, ax throwing, golf simulators and a bar.

A little ways down the street, Desai has similarly big plans for Fun on 52 at the somewhat vacant, nearly 6-acre lot that sits along Route 52 near the Mendota Hills Campground in Amboy.

His vision is to create a “tiny town,” as he called it, complete with small roadways and children’s ride-on toy cars, Desai said.

The entertainment complex will be geared towards children ages 5 and older. It will feature an outdoor go-kart track and a variety of interactive and virtual reality games. The site will also have a 200-person banquet hall where people can host events such as baby showers or birthday parties, Desai said.

He got a special-use permit for the site, approved by the Lee County Board in November 2024, and is now working on getting a loan approved.

One way Desai may be able to keep costs down is through certain tax benefits offered by the Lee-Ogle Enterprise Zone. The zone, created through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, aims to stimulate economic growth by offering state and local tax incentives to projects within the zone’s boundaries, Zone Administrator Andy Shaw said in an interview with Shaw Local.

Desai’s projects are part of the zone advisory board’s recent efforts to expand the boundaries to include some upcoming developments in rural Lee and Ogle counties. The advisory board has been working to get ordinances passed by the local governments within the zone in support of its expansion before submitting an application to the IDCEO.

If approved, Desai would be able to take advantage of two major tax incentives related to new construction - a sales tax exemption on all project-building materials and property tax abatements if its assessed property value increases after construction.