A restaurant and bar due to open at a busy Dolton intersection is moving closer to welcoming customers after winning a partial court victory in a battle with Mayor Tiffany Henyard over liquor licenses.
It took a lawsuit for St. Patrick’s Steakhouse and Rooftop Bar to secure liquor licenses for the business, and a Cook County judge essentially forced Henyard, in her capacity as Dolton’s liquor commissioner, to approve the licenses after she initially supported the business coming to the village.
The five-level business was built on the site of a former animal hospital at 15022 Lincoln Ave., just south of Sibley Boulevard and just east of Dolton Bowl.
It will have a banquet hall/event space in addition to a restaurant and rooftop bar.
Owner Tiffany Kamara sued Henyard in September, alleging the mayor had dragged her feet on issuing the needed liquor licenses.
Under a court order to issue the licenses, Henyard was found in “indirect criminal contempt” during a hearing Friday in the case.
Kamara planned to sell a liquor store she owns, Emporium Beverage Depot, 130 E. Sibley Blvd., to another operator, according to the lawsuit. She plans to open a retail liquor store on the first floor of St. Patrick’s, it stated.
Kamara’s lawyer, Adrian Vuckovich, said while Henyard signed two liquor licences for St. Patrick’s — one for restaurant and bar and one for the event space — she did not issue one for the new liquor store.
Kamara had a deal with a buyer, Herms Dolton LLC, to sell the Emporium building, according to the lawsuit.
The buyer backed out Nov. 7 because a retail license hadn’t been issued, he said. Although Henyard did approve a license a short time later, the deal had already collapsed, the attorney said.
According to the lawsuit, Kamara paid $200,000 for the vacant animal hospital property. The seller was Kamal Woods, a Thornton Township employee.
At Tuesday’s Thornton Township board meeting, Woods was placed on paid administrative leave from his job as township director of youth services.
He and Henyard were sued in an eviction case involving a home they are renting in Dolton, although the mayor’s attorney said Henyard moved out in the fall. Earlier this month, they told the judge the rent was paid up.
Last summer, a federal subpoena demanded records from the township for a youth violence prevention program that allegedly came under Woods’ authority.
According to records obtained by the Chicago Tribune and Daily Southtown, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity received the subpoena last August for all records related to Thornton Township and Project B Youth Violence Prevention.
According to department, Thornton Township received a $7.1 million in grant money since 2020, and Plan B Youth Violence Prevention was among the programs funded by a $500,000 grant “for violence interruption, community development and operational expenses and administrative costs.” The address given for the program, on Sibley Boulevard in Dolton, comes up in Cook County records as a car wash business.
The funding was supposedly meant to provide college scholarships and career training to young people.
Kamara’s lawsuit contends Woods “is the significant other of Defendant Henyard and is believed to have substantial influence over her decisions and actions.”
Vuckovich said Henyard was, at least initially, a backer of Kamara’s endeavor, having her photo taken and promoting St. Patrick’s as evidence of her work to bring economic development to Dolton.
He said Tuesday Kamara was hiring staff and wanted to open St. Patrick’s in November, ahead of Thanksgiving.
“This would have been tax revenue for Dolton and it would have included jobs for the village,” Vuckovich said.
TAK Group Investments LLC filed the lawsuit against Henyard. Records show Kamara is the owner of TAK and its primary business appears to be Emporium.
Kamara was not immediately available to comment on the status of the opening of St. Patrick’s.
TAK applied for liquor licenses for St. Patrick’s last spring and at about the same time sought the transfer of the license for Emporium, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit said at some point Henyard “arbitrarily decided to obstruct the development” by preventing the opening of a liquor store on the first floor, “which is a central part of the development.”
Dolton’s Village Board approved the liquor licenses at a July 19 board meeting, according to the complaint.
Judge Cecila Horan told Henyard to respond to the contempt charge by Feb. 7, with TAK responding by Feb. 14.
mnolan@southtownstar.com
