Racing Board OKs OTB for Orland Hills

The Illinois Racing Board has approved an off-track betting parlor for Orland Hills.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Playing the ponies will get easier for Southland bettors now that the Illinois Racing Board has approved a license for Arlington Park to open a betting parlor in Orland Hills.

The racing board on Tuesday approved the request for a Trackside OTB at 9201 W. 159th St. in Orland Hills. The board also approved LaRocco Bros. to operate the restaurant side of the business.

Orland Hills officials have been talking about getting an OTB within the village for more than a decade.

“The village certainly appreciates the chance to get this new business,” said Village Administrator John Daly.

“It hopefully will replace some of the lost revenues of the down economy and the bankruptcy of Chrysler and Circuit City,” Daly said.

In the past couple of years, Orland Hills saw a Mancari Chrysler dealership and a Circuit City appliance store (both just a few blocks away from the new OTB) go out of business. Both generated considerable income tax revenue for Orland Hills.

“We replaced Circuit City with a Sports Authority but it’s a sporting goods store and doesn’t sell big ticket items,” Daly said.

The Mancari site is the largest vacancy in the village, Daly said.

Daly said the process now is for Sam LaRocco, who operates a Fat Sam’s with an OTB in Lockport, to apply for the necessary permits and licenses.

“We need to see his plan for the build out and things like that,” Daly said.

Because LaRocco is remodeling an existing building, work should go quickly, Daly said. He said the OTB could be up and running by next summer.

“We plan to keep it similar to Lockport,” LaRocco said. “We’ll have a few more TVs for the horses.”

The Orland Hills location would be slightly smaller than the Lockport Fat Sam’s, he said.

As for the Orland Park Fat Sam’s, which is only a few blocks west of the 159th Street site?

“The Orland Park Fat Sam’s isn’t going anywhere,” LaRocco said. “The new place will have a kitchen and draw an older crowd than Fat Sam’s with its dancing and beer garden.”

LaRocco said he’s thinking of calling the new venture Triple Crown, a horseracing term that refers to the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes.

The closest OTB to Orland Hills is one operated by Inter-Track Partners – owned by the Hawthorne, Maywood and Balmoral horse tracks – in Mokena. Inter-Track also operates an OTB in Crestwood.

An OTB in Tinley Park left town a couple of years ago when Bud’s sports bar pulled up stakes and relocated to a western suburb.

Potsy's Pizza, Ruby Tuesday Close

Potsy's Pizza in Tinley Park closed last week.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Tinley Park pizza lovers have one less place to choose from with the closing last week of Potsy’s Pizza at 16661 S. 80th Avenue.

Calls to Potsy’s are being forwarded to Salina’s over on 175th Street, which bought the rights to the phone number. Owner Neal Hummitsch said Salina's is now making "cheese nugget pizza" that Potsy's Pizza promoted. It's a kind of pan pizza with garlic butter and mozzarella.

Ruby Tuesday Closes in Orland
Orland Square Mall Christmas shoppers hoping for something to eat or drink at Ruby Tuesday will be disappointed now that the restaurant has closed abruptly.

According to a message on the mall’s Facebook page, Ruby Tuesday closed Dec. 9 without advance notice.

Meredith Hammond, a spokeswoman for Ruby Tuesday, said the restaurant closed Dec. 8 because the franchisee was not renewing the lease. She did not know the franchisee’s name.

In 2009, the franchisee was Peoria-based R.T. Midwest Holdings LLC, which appears to have gone out of business. That same year, Simon Property Group, which owns Orland Square Mall, sued Ruby Tuesday for $69,000 in back rent.

The closest Ruby Tuesday to Orland Park is now in Bourbonnais, according to the company’s website.

Gas Stations Rebranded
The deal for Circle K to acquire the Jewel Express gas stations and convenience stores in the Chicago-area has closed and the stations on 159th Street and Wolf Road in Orland Park are now sporting Shell gas signs and the stores have been rebranded as Circle K.

Synergy Salon Closes
Synergy Hair Design has apparently closed at 11310 Southwest Highway in Orland Park. Its website is still up but the phone number has been disconnected.

Main Street Relocations
Orland Park trustees this month approved more than $400,000 in relocation payments for three businesses related to the upcoming closing of Orland Plaza at 143rd Street and LaGrange Road.

Orland Park Bakery, which is moving in January to the Dania plaza at 14250 S. Ravinia Ave., will receive $196,519. Frontier Construction, which is moving to Willowbrook, will receive $63,345. Lang Lee II, a Chinese restaurant that closed that may not reopen, will receive $219,739.

The biggest loss will be if Lang Lee II doesn’t reopen. My wife loved their chicken wings.

Charter Fitness 5th Annual Toy Drive
Charter Fitness centers in the Southland are accepting new and unwrapped toys through Tuesday that will be distributed through local charities including Toys for Tots, the Salvation Army and Advocate Hope Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn.

"Anybody is encouraged to drop off toys at a Charter Fitness near them. There are a lot of children in need in our communities. We want to help them have the best holiday possible," said Dan Collins, Director of Sales.

Marquette Bank Donates Winter Coats
Marquette Bank recently held its Neighborhood Coat and Clothing Drive, an employee-driven effort to collect coats and clothing to give to local organizations.

Throughout September and October, employees donated more than 120 new or gently used coats and other clothing items. Employee volunteers then sorted all of the donated clothing and distributed them to five neighborhood organizations including: Englewood Cares in Chicago, Metropolitan Family Services in Chicago, Southwest PADS in Chicago, Supportive Services Development Corporation in Chicago and Together We Cope in Tinley Park.

Prior to distribution, all of the coats were dry-cleaned free of charge by Norman’s Cleaners.

Orland Square Mall Goes Electric

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Orland Square Mall has installed two 240-volt charging stations for electric cars in the mall’s upper-level parking lot between Macy’s and Carson’s.

350Green from San Diego has been installing charging stations at malls and stores across the country and announced plans earlier this year to install 280 stations in the Chicago area.

Charging stations have also been installed at River Oaks Center in Calumet City and North Ridge Plaza in Joliet. North Ridge, River Oaks and Orland Square are all owned by Simon Property Group.

350Green also has installed a station at a Walgreens in Park Forest.

The Learning Curve Fails

Learning Curve, an educational service, closed recently at 17101 W. 183rd St. in Tinley Park’s Convention Plaza.

Shell Station Changes Hands

A Shell gas station and convenience store at 14301 S. Wolf Road in Orland Park was sold for $1.2 million in late September.

Silver Lake to Add Practice Facility

Silver Lake Country Club, 14700 S. 82nd Ave. in Orland Park, has started construction on a new practice facility expected to open in the spring. The facility will include a public driving range and short-game practice area. The country club features two 18-hole courses and a 9-hole course.

Closed for the Season

Whitey’s Dairy Palace, 16860 S. Oak Park Ave. in Tinley Park, has closed for the winter.

Bears deal of the weekend

Enjoy the Bears final home game of the season at Jordan’s Pub, 13500 S. Harlem Ave. in Orland Park, which serves a free halftime buffet during Bears games. The phone number is 708-460-8330. Its website is http://www.jordanspub.com/.