Business

He’s made millions from gambling in Illinois. Regulators want to revoke his license

Published

2 years ago

July 16, 2023

[ad_1]

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in the Belleville News-Democrat.The Illinois Gaming Board has filed a third disciplinary complaint against a Chicago businessman from Highland, the latest development in its six-year effort to revoke his license to operate video-gambling machines.Lucky Lincoln Gaming, which is owned by Jeff Rehberger Jr., has nearly 1,200 machines, officially known as “terminals,” in about 200 bars, restaurants, gas stations and other locations throughout Illinois. That includes 10 in the Metro East, according to its website.Other complaints against the company, filed in 2017 and 2019, have been stuck in an “administrative-review process,” as well as a court case in which Lucky Lincoln argued that the Gaming Board violated the state’s Open Meetings Act for not going into closed session at a meeting.In the meantime, the company has made millions of dollars off its poker and slot machines, and Rehberger Jr. recently opened marijuana dispensaries in Champaign and Edwardsville after obtaining state licenses.Rehberger Jr. referred questions about Gaming Board complaints to Lucky Lincoln President Jeff Heimerdinger. This month, Heimerdinger said he couldn’t comment on pending litigation, but he would be happy to answer questions when the case is over.“The foundational principles of Lucky Lincoln are to support the rules of the Illinois Gaming Board and provide the most pleasurable experience for people playing at our partner locations,” he said.The three complaints contain a total of 21 counts, each referring to alleged violations of the Illinois Video Gaming Act, the Illinois Gambling Act and the Board’s Adopted Rules on Video Gaming.Many of the counts relate to “inducements,” ranging from $5,000 cash payments and Rolex watches to construction of video-gambling rooms, that Lucky Lincoln allegedly offered to owners of restaurants and other establishments for agreeing to install its machines.The Illinois Video Gaming Act “prohibits terminal operators from giving anything of value to a video gaming establishment as an incentive or inducement to locate (machines) in that establishment,” according to the complaints.Several counts relate to Rehberger Jr.’s allegedly improper relationship with a company co-owned by his father, Jeff Rehberger Sr., of Highland, that operates 39 video-gambling lounges under the name Lacey’s Place. One is off South Belt West in unincorporated St. Clair County near Belleville.The Gaming Board doesn’t propose disciplinary action against Lacey’s Place in the complaints.Other counts allege witness-tampering in the form of Rehberger Jr. trying to pressure a former sales agent to change his testimony, and failure to properly disclose employee names and activities.“(Lucky Lincoln’s conduct) discredits or tends to discredit the Illinois video gaming industry and does not serve the best interests of the citizens of Illinois,” the complaints state.Suspension reversedThe Gaming Board is a state regulatory and law-enforcement agency that oversees casino, video and sports gambling in Illinois. It consists of an administrator, staff and citizen-advisory board appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Illinois Senate.Administrator Marcus Fruchter filed the third complaint against Lucky Lincoln on May 12, maintaining that the company illegally paid more than $21,000 to build an addition for video gambling onto a restaurant in a Chicago suburb in 2020 to persuade the owner to install its machines.The board imposed a “limited summary suspension,” characterizing the alleged violation as a repeat offense due to previous complaints. That prohibited Lucky Lincoln from entering into any new use agreements with video-gambling establishments.But the company filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court seeking a permanent injunction, arguing that a suspension would violate its due-process rights. Judge Celia Gamrath issued a temporary restraining order on June 2, staying the suspension while the case proceeds.“As stated in the Motion for Temporary Restraining Order, years have passed since the supposed bad acts occurred,” the judge wrote. “There was ‘considerable confusion’ surrounding the prohibition on inducements at the time Lucky Lincoln was cited, and the alleged violation has purportedly been cured.“All the while, the [Gaming Board] has allowed Lucky Lincoln to operate despite having two complaints pending. The balancing of interests calls for an injunction to issue to maintain the status quo … until after a hearing.”Illinois legalized video gambling in 2009. Since that time, the Gaming Board has approved new rules and clarified existing rules, including those on what constitutes an inducement.Heimerdinger spoke at a Gaming Board meeting on June 15 in Chicago, asking that the agency post a website notice, letting the public know the company is still doing business as usual.Heimerdinger told staff and advisory-board members that Lucky Lincoln’s competitors had been circulating news of the suspension among the company’s existing and potential new “partners” (video-gambling establishments), causing irreparable harm.“We have lost multiple opportunities, spent much of our time attempting to repair existing relationships and have employees concerned for their professional careers,” he said.Heimerdinger noted that Lucky Lincoln produces about $100 million in net terminal income and $25 million in state taxes each year.Net terminal income refers to funds left over after customer payouts from video-gambling machines. Those funds are divided between the establishments, state and local governments and terminal operators. The latter’s share is about a third of net, according to Heimerdinger.At the meeting, he called the Gaming Board’s attempt to suspend Lucky Lincoln “unprecedented.”

Jeff Heimerdinger, president of Lucky Lincoln Gaming, a video-gambling terminal operator, speaks to Illinois Gaming Board members and staff at a June 15 meeting.

Process is ‘confidential’All Gaming Board disciplinary complaints against video-gambling establishments and terminal operators go through an administrative-review process, according to Policy Director Joe Miller.Administrative-law judges, randomly selected from a pool of designated attorneys, oversee hearings that are procedurally similar to bench trials in Illinois circuit courts. The presiding judge makes a recommendation before the agency takes final action in a case.“We typically don’t comment on pending litigation or active disciplinary complaints,” Miller said. “The administrative-hearing process is confidential.”However, Judge Gamrath’s order revealed that the three complaints against Lucky Lincoln had been consolidated into one case, and that the Gaming Board held its first closed hearing on it May 22.“The administrative-law judge had let us know that they are reviewing all the testimony and they would have a finding in the fourth quarter of 2023,” Heimerdinger said this month. “Of course that could change.”Rehberger Jr.’s attorneys include Sergio Acosta, a former Gaming Board administrator now in private practice with the national firm Akerman LLP.Chicago-area resident Kevin McGourty summarized the three complaints against Lucky Lincoln aloud during a public-comment period at the June 15 board meeting “for the public record.”McGourty is semi-retired after working 11 years as a sales agent for four video-gambling terminal operators in Illinois — not Lucky Lincoln. He frequently speaks at Gaming Board meetings and sometimes criticizes the agency for allegedly not doing enough to stop illegal activity in the industry.“The problem with the Gaming Board is that they’re empowered to do things, but they don’t have the power to do them,” McGourty said in an interview. “I think they’re corrupt. I think they’re incompetent. I think they have limited powers.“There’s not even an inspector general (independent auditor) for that agency. The inspector general is the administrator. That is ridiculous. Every other agency has an inspector general.”Gaming Board officials declined to respond to McGourty’s comments through spokeswoman Beth Kaufman.One of McGourty’s biggest criticisms is that administrative-law judges often recommend cases be settled with fines that represent a fraction of what video-gambling establishments and terminal operators earn. He also feels Illinois laws are too weak to prevent crime and corruption.According to McGourty, the number and seriousness of complaints against Lucky Lincoln show a higher-than-normal level of determination by the Gaming Board to revoke its license, but delays, including those caused by the company’s court filings, have worked in Rehberger Jr.’s favor.“He’s still operating his business, and he’s still making money during all of this,” McGourty said. “He’s also in the marijuana-dispensary business, and he was allowed to get a license even though (legal trouble with the Gaming Board) was known at the time.”Father named in caseFormer Gaming Board Administrator Mark Ostrowski filed the agency’s first disciplinary complaint against Lucky Lincoln in 2017. As amended the following year, it includes 15 counts.Some of the counts refer to Jeff Rehberger Sr. and Christine Morgan, co-owners of Highland Management Group. The company operates 39 video-gambling lounges in the Lacey’s Place chain.State law provides for a tiered licensing system, which requires separate licenses for video-gambling establishments and terminal operators, to prevent “vertical integration,” maintain competition and avoid monopoly.The complaint alleges that Rehberger Jr. violated the Illinois Video Gaming Act by exhibiting “significant influence” over Highland Management Group with such actions as drafting franchise agreements, handling property leases and giving directives to employees.“A video gaming terminal operator may not own, manage or control a licensed establishment,” the complaint states.It also alleges that Lucky Lincoln failed to properly disclose the names of several employees, including Letizia Lowe, Rehberger Sr.’s wife and Rehberger Jr.’s stepmother, who was employed by Lucky Lincoln while being affiliated with Highland Management Group.The Belleville location of Lacey’s Place is in Far East Center, a strip mall that Rehberger Jr. bought in December under the limited-liability company name Midwest Real Estate Portfolio One.Earlier this year, Pat Gotto-Sauget, owner of Lucky Jack’s, another video-gambling lounge in the strip mall, told the BND that she rebuffed Rehberger Sr.’s suggestion that she install Lucky Lincoln machines. She has a contract with another terminal operator.Lacey’s Place opened two doors down in April. Gotto-Sauget is moving after her lease expires in August.“(The Rehbergers) are the worst thing that ever happened to the gambling industry,” Gotto-Sauget said in April, arguing that all businesses should have to follow the same rules.Lacey’s Place also has had legal problems with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In May, the agency announced that the company had agreed to spend $92,964 and furnish other relief to settle a pay-discrimination and retaliation lawsuit.Female district managers were being paid less than their male coworkers with similar education and experience, and one female was fired for complaining about it, according to the lawsuit.“Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act, which prohibit discrimination based on sex and retaliation,” an EEOC press release stated.Rehberger Sr. didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Teri Maddox

Belleville News-DemocratLacey’s Place, a video-gambling lounge off South Belt West in unincorporated Belleville, is named in a disciplinary complaint filed by the Illinois Gaming Board against Lucky Lincoln Gaming.

10 Metro East locationsLucky Lincoln video-gambling machines are used at Lacey’s Place locations in Belleville and Highland, according to its website.Other Metro East locations include The Edge in Belleville, Tullaghan’s Irish Pub in Highland, The Pour House in Marissa, Eddie’s Rise n’ Dine in Breese, Route 66 Kick Stand in Granite City, All Mart Smoke Shop & Liquor in Mascoutah, Roger’s Mini Mart in St. Libory and Happy Hour Sports Bar in Waterloo.Lucky Lincoln’s homepage begins with a pitch for small businesses to earn extra money with video gambling.“With just 160 sq ft, Lucky Lincoln can make your location a cash generating entertainment destination,” it states. “More than ever, customers are seeking away-from-home entertainment options, and businesses need new ways to increase revenue and drive more traffic to their locations.”Besides Lacey’s Place, none of the other Metro East establishments that use Lucky Lincoln video-gambling machines are mentioned in the Gaming Board’s 2017 disciplinary complaint.Several counts in the complaint involve an alleged inducement by Lucky Lincoln to persuade a Pana businessman, who had applied for a state video-gambling establishment license, to install the company’s machines. The complaint reprinted an email from Rehberger Jr., dated Sept. 22, 2017.“Yesterday, the (Gaming Board) passed a new ruling that will allow for Lucky Lincoln to pay for your entire gaming room construction and signage,” it reads. “I would love to assist you through the licensing process.”The board met on Sept. 21, 2017, but didn’t change any video-gambling rules, according to the complaint. It alleges that Rehberger Jr.’s email constituted deceptive practices and unfair methods of competition prohibited by the Illinois Video Gaming Act.The complaint names two Lucky Lincoln sales agents, Blerim “Ben” Bekiri and Fatmir “Fabio” Dikenoski, who allegedly offered cash payments and Rolex watches to persuade owners of several video-gambling establishments to switch terminal operators or sign use agreements.The complaint references a week when Bekiri took Dikenoski, then a trainee, to four Albanian-owned restaurants and allegedly offered $5,000 to each for installing Lucky Lincoln machines.Dikenoski told Gaming Board investigators that Rehberger Jr. personally directed sales agents at a 2018 meeting in Lucky Lincoln’s Chicago office to provide such inducements, according to the complaint.Dikenoski also maintained that Rehberger Jr.:Stated that, ‘When it is a good account, we will offer them anything to make it happen.”Offered to drive Dikenowski to video-gambling establishments that were potential customers to provide inducements.Told Dikenowski he was “going to own the whole town of Chicago someday.”Assured Dikenowski that any Gaming Board problems would be settled with minor fines and that he had agency officials “under control.”Gave Dikenowski a check for $20,000 for his services at the end of the meeting.Other employee issuesOther counts in the Gaming Board’s first disciplinary complaint against Lucky Lincoln allege that the company used the video-gambling-related services of Chad Michael, despite a 2015 ruling he could no longer work in the industry due to rule violations by his company, L.Z. Entertainment.The complaint also alleges that Bekiri, the Lucky Lincoln sales agent, told co-worker Dikenowski to lie if contacted for an Gaming Board interview.The second complaint, filed in 2019, is directly relates to the first. It alleges that Rehberger Jr. engaged in “improper witness communications, witness harassment, obstruction of Board activities and conduct that discredits the Illinois video gaming industry.”Dikenowski interviewed with Gaming Board investigators in January 2018 and was listed as a potential hearing witness in discovery submitted in August 2018, according to the complaint.It alleges that Rehberger Jr. initiated communications with Dikenowski in September 2018 and asked him to sign an affidavit recanting his earlier statements to investigators and swearing under oath that Rehberger Jr. never told him to offer inducements to video-gambling establishments.“Rehberger reminded Dikenowski that thousands of dollars would purportedly be coming Dikenowski’s way for video gaming establishment accounts he procured,” the complaint states.Dikenowski refused to sign the affidavit, asked Rehberger Jr. not to contact him again and blocked his cellphone number before Rehberger Jr. got through in October 2018 using a family member’s phone and threatened him with legal action, according to the complaint.Attempting to deter witnesses from testifying in state or local government cases, threatening injury or damage, harassing or annoying them are felonies under Illinois law.“Rehberger’s communications with Dikenowski … pose a threat to the public health, safety, morals, good order and general welfare of (Illinois residents), discredit or tend to discredit the Illinois Gaming industry (and) reflect adversely on (its) security and integrity,” the complaint states.Another Rehberger Jr. project resulted in controversy recently.In March, residents of North Riverside, a Chicago suburb, protested a decision by the village board to grant a liquor license to Ava’s Cafe, a wine bar that one opposing trustee characterized as a video-gambling lounge too close to a school and residential neighborhood.MRE Portfolio One LLC bought the former dry-cleaners building in June 2022, and Illinois Secretary of State records identify a Delaware company as its manager, according to a story in the Riverside-Brookfield Landmark.“However, a man named Jeff Rehberger is listed as a contact for the property owner on an Illinois State Fire Marshal permit application last October to remove a heating oil tank on the property,” the story stated.The village board didn’t discuss whether the wine bar in the building owned by Rehberger Jr.’s company would be using Lucky Lincoln machines, according to the Landmark.

Teri Maddox

Belleville News-Democrat This photo of Cloud9 Cannabis at 2341 Plum St. in Edwardsville was taken shortly before it opened this spring. Owner Jeff Rehberger Jr. has a second location in Champaign.

Two pot dispensariesFortunate Son Partners LLC, another company owned by Rehberger Jr., has obtained two state licenses to operate marijuana dispensaries since Illinois voted to begin allowing recreational sales in 2020, according to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.The company opened Cloud9 Cannabis stores in Champaign and Edwardsville this spring.Rehberger Jr.’s ability to compete for the coveted dispensary licenses, despite ongoing legal troubles with the Gaming Board, was the subject of a 2020 investigation by WBEZ, the NPR-affiliate station in Chicago.Rehberger Jr., then 33, said in an interview that he couldn’t recall whether he told the state regulator about the disciplinary complaints against Lucky Lincoln, as required in the application process.“To be honest, it’s been about a year since we went through that,” Rehberger Jr. said. “I know we responded to all of the questions truthfully and accurately.”WBEZ requested a copy of the Fortunate Son dispensary application. Regulatory department officials denied it, saying such applications were “confidential” under an exemption to the state’s Freedom of Information Act and the Illinois statute on recreational marijuana.Rehberger told WBEZ that he started Lucky Lincoln in 2013, when he was living at his mother’s house in Highland but later moved it to the Portage Park neighborhood on Chicago’s northwest side.The company obtained its state license as a video-gambling terminal operator in 2014.The Illinois Business Journal identified Rehberger Jr. as CEO of the private-equity firm Vast in a 2022 story about his plan to develop a chain of convenience stores with gas and electric-charging called Lindy’s.The story listed other companies under the Vast umbrella, including Lucky Coin, Highland Crypto Technologies, Midwest Real Estate Investments of Illinois, MRE Community Solar and Aviator Coffee, in addition to Lucky Lincoln Gaming and Cloud9 Cannabis.Last year, Rehberger Jr. announced plans for a $50 million investment in Highland that would consist of a housing development, a hotel, restaurants and the flagship location of a coffee-shop company that he hoped to expand nationally with franchises.“I’ve developed deep-rooted personal relationships in (downstate Illinois communities), which inform my understanding of the needs of those who live there and the economic possibilities for growth,” he told the Edwardsville Intelligencer and The Telegraph in Alton.“Now that I’m fortunate enough to have the opportunity to reinvest in these communities, I want Lucky Lincoln to be a part of that growth … in terms of job creation, charity and economic development.”Teri Maddox is a reporter with the Belleville News-Democrat, a news partner of St. Louis Public Radio.

[ad_2]

Source link

Business

Laclede’s Landing is moving from nightlife hub to neighborhood

Published

10 months ago

August 28, 2024

Natural Bridge

[ad_1]

Laclede’s Landing has cycled through many identities throughout the history of St. Louis. Now, some people involved with its redevelopment in recent years hope the landing’s next one will be as a residential neighborhood.The small district tucked directly north of the Gateway Arch National Park has quietly undergone a massive redevelopment with more than $75 million pouring into the rehabilitation of many of the historic buildings at the landing.“We are starting to feel that momentum, especially in the last really 60 days. Things have drastically changed around here,” said Ryan Koppy, broker and owner of Trading Post Properties and the director of commercial property for Advantes Group.Advantes alone shouldered the rehabilitation of six of the historic buildings, which now sport a mix of apartments and retail or office space, he said. Four of those buildings are completed, and of the 119 apartments available, about 90% are filled, Koppy said.“It just shows you what kind of demand we do have for the area,” he said. “We’re separated from downtown a little bit, and for the tenants, their local park where they’re walking their dogs, it’s a national park.”

Sophie Proe

St. Louis Public RadioInterior of the Peper Lofts at Laclede’s Landing on Aug. 16

Another 40 apartments are set to come online next year along with some retail space, Koppy said. He added he’s noticed a wide range of people who are considering and moving into the newly refinished apartments.“It’s very mixed, surprisingly,” Koppy said. “We have a lot of young professionals, maybe on their second job out of [university], we have some empty nesters too.”Part of the newfound momentum comes from a new market, the Cobblestone, and coffee shop, Brew Tulum, opening recently and bringing more foot traffic to the area, said Brandyn Jones, executive director of the Laclede Landing Neighborhood Association. She added that more apartments are set to come online within the next few months.“We have a great riverfront area here and so there are plans in the works to activate those spaces, bring people in,” she said.That could be more daytime events, like a farmers market, music festivals (one of which is happening this weekend) or just bringing in food trucks to Katherine Ward Burg Garden, Jones said. It’s a departure from the identity the district held a few decades ago as a hub for nightlife and entertainment.“That’s part of what connects so many people to Laclede’s Landing,” Jones said. “It’s important to tell the story of where we’re evolving. It won’t be what it was in the same exact way, but it will still be fun, and it can be fun early morning, midday or late night.”It’s a view shared by Koppy.“It’s grown up, it’s a bit mature,” he said. “We’re not going to have 3 a.m. bars here anymore because we have residents here.”Koppy added that Advantes is joined by other developers working to rehabilitate buildings in the district.“We all work in unison,” he said. “If I get a call and [a client is] asking for something and maybe the square foot doesn’t really match up with what I have available, but I know it matches up over there, they’re getting a very warm welcome and introduction.”

Sophie Proe

St. Louis Public RadioRyan Koppy looks out the window of Brew Tulum Specialty Coffee Experience on Aug. 16 at the Cobblestone on Laclede’s Landing in downtown St. Louis.

This push toward making Laclede’s Landing a residential neighborhood also comes alongside broader conversations about the future of downtown St. Louis more generally as it looks to move away from a dependence on office space. While the city as a whole continues to lose population, downtown added about 1,700 people between 2010 and 2020, according to U.S. Census data.“It’s been wonderful timing to have all that going on, that stress that you’re not just in downtown to work has been critical to part of this rejuvenation and energy down here,” Jones said. “Sometimes people forget Laclede’s Landing is part of downtown, really the original downtown.”And success in the small district could spread beyond its small confines and potentially serve as a model for success, Koppy added.“My idea is, if we could get all the great things of St. Louis coming in through here, we can eventually spread that,” he said. “We understand we can’t change the whole world, but we’ll just make the effort to try and change the world around us.”

[ad_2]

Source link

Business

St. Louis barbecue festival Q in the Lou canceled

Published

10 months ago

August 27, 2024

Natural Bridge

[ad_1]

The largest barbecue competition and tasting festival in St. Louis, Q in the Lou, has been canceled. The event was planned for Sept. 6-8, but organizers decided to cancel it due to poor ticket sales and insufficient corporate sponsorship.The traveling festival had low attendance in Denver last week, said Sean Hadley, a festival organizer.“We made the tough decision to cancel Q in the Lou,” said Hadley. “We’re seeing a lack of support … it’s just not there.”The traveling event first came to St. Louis in 2015 and drew hundreds of people to downtown St. Louis for barbecue, live music and a “major party.”“It shut down out of the blue … I’ve gone every year,” said Scott Thomas, local chef and food blogger. “It’s brilliant. You could take a tour of some really amazing barbecue restaurants and competition barbecue guys all in one place.”In a late July news conference, city officials touted Q in the Lou as a significant tourism draw and a boost for downtown revitalization.“Bringing a signature national festival back to downtown St. Louis … is making us stronger,” Greater St. Louis Inc. CEO Jason Hall said then.Less than a month later, ticket holders from every festival stop learned they’d be refunded. On Monday, organizers privatized the Q in the Lou website and deleted its social media accounts.Conner Kerrigan, a spokesperson for Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office, said city officials are disappointed the festival won’t be back this year.“St. Louis knows how to throw a festival … bringing people together to celebrate our culture is one of the things we do best as a city,” Kerrigan said in a statement. “Should Q in the Lou try to come back next year or any year after that, they’ll have the support of the Mayor Jones administration.”

[ad_2]

Source link

Business

Alton’s Jacoby Arts Center likely to relocate permanently

Published

10 months ago

August 27, 2024

Natural Bridge

[ad_1]

The Jacoby Arts Center, a staple of Alton for many in the Metro East community, will likely permanently move out of its downtown building at the end of September.Its departure and relocation from the historic building that the arts center has called home for the past 20 years has created a tense situation for not only the arts center’s supporters but also the local development company working to revitalize Alton’s downtown that owns the building.“It’s an unfortunate situation,” said Chad Brigham, the chief legal and administrative officer with AltonWorks, the real estate company owned by another prominent local attorney working to develop the town. “I wish there wasn’t misunderstanding and disappointment in the community. It’s difficult sometimes to clarify that.”When news of the likely departure spread in June via a letter from the Jacoby Arts Center to its supporters, an outcry on social media quickly followed. Some assumed it would be the end of the arts center.“There’s a lot of feelings right now that I think are more about the building itself than there are about the Jacoby Arts Center,” said Valerie Hoven, vice president and treasurer of the nonprofit arts center’s board.For supporters of the Jacoby, moving from the building and likely never returning will be a sad affair. Exactly what’s next for the arts center remains unclear. However, Jacoby board members believe this will not be the end of the organization. It will likely look different though.

Sophie Proe

St. Louis Public RadioThe Jacoby Arts Center earlier this month in downtown Alton

Sophie Proe

St. Louis Public RadioThe Alton-based Jacoby Arts Center features more than 75 St. Louis-area artists and their work.

The history of the buildingFirst dubbed the Madison County Arts Council, the nonprofit arts center renamed itself after the Jacoby family gave it the current building in 2004. AltonWorks founder John Simmons purchased the Jacoby Building in September 2018, according to property records from the county.Managing the large building, at 627 E. Broadway, became too expensive for the Jacoby Arts Center. In 2018, the organization approached Simmons to purchase it, said Dennis Scarborough, a past president of the board and a downtown business owner.“Of course, it sounded really, really good,” Scarborough said of Simmons’ purchase. “He took over the insurance, property taxes, all those kinds of things that were really, really getting into our budget, and he rented it to us at a fair price.”The two parties entered into a lease agreement initially for five years. Since then, Simmons has spent more than $1 million in upkeep, taxes, insurance and more on the building. The lease has been extended twice until the end of September this year.Over the six years, Jacoby paid $1,500 per month, which covered a portion of the utilities.“It’s been wonderfully generous of AltonWorks,” Hoven said.Because the building is aging and needs repairs, Brigham with AltonWorks and those connected to the arts center have long known the Jacoby Arts Center would need to relocate — at least temporarily.

Renovations on the Jacoby building will begin this fall. They’ll include modernizing the aging building, repairing the old elevator and putting in apartments on the second and third floors.

News of the likely departure and controversyRenovations will begin this fall. They’ll include modernizing the aging building, repairing the old elevator and putting in apartments on the second and third floors.In May, it became clear that a preliminary proposal for the arts center to return to the building after renovations finished in 2026 would not work for them, Hoven said.She estimates the first floor and basement of the Jacoby Arts Building span roughly 20,000 square feet.

Chad Brigham is a business and legal adviser for AltonWorks.

AltonWorks’ initial idea floated to the arts center would only provide 2,553 square feet, according to both Hoven and Brigham. While the board calculated the price for the new space to be at least triple the current payment, Brigham said there was never a specific price discussed.“No discussion in terms of actual rent price,” he said.AltonWorks didn’t make a specific rent offer because the organization doesn’t even know itself, Brigham said.In addition to cash from John Simmons, there will be loans, tax increment financing and state tax credits to cover the $20 million in building renovations. The entities financing the cost of renovations will also help determine the rent when the construction is complete, Brigham said.Regardless, the price required to return will be too much for the arts center to pay, Hoven said. Also, the organization would like to maintain the many programs it offers to the community — a rentable event space, a dark room and a clay studio, for example — in the future.“For us to really meet the needs of the community and be sustainable, we need a space where we can offer some of those programs — the artists’ shop, and other spaces that offer some kind of income as well — so that we can continue to give money back to the community,” she said.AltonWorks offered at least two other locations as possible alternatives from their vast stock of buildings along Broadway to house the arts center during the roughly 18 months of construction. Those alternatives came with similar deals requiring the Jacoby to cover only utilities, Brigham said.“We did put in a great deal of work behind the scenes in trying to find an interim solution,” Brigham said. “We wanted to find a place for them to go, where it was easy for them to continue programming, whether it’s 100% of it or some portion of it, that would work for them.”Initially, the arts center hoped to keep the basement during the renovations, Hoven said. When it became clear the preliminary offer to return was for much less space than the arts center anticipated, the letter to the community was sent.“The letter that came out was merely showing our surprise,” Hoven said. “Don’t misinterpret it as panic. Don’t misinterpret it as desperation.”

Sophie Proe

St. Louis Public RadioA smorgasbord of radios are displayed at the Jacoby Arts Center in Alton.

The commentary on social media was passionate. Some critics of AltonWorks said the organization has good intentions but hasn’t executed those plans. Others said Jacoby hasn’t planned well enough for the future.For Brigham and the AltonWorks team, some of the criticism has been disappointing.“I thought that there were some decent solutions. Were they perfect? No, but they were very, I thought, very good solutions,” he said. “And the fact that it has come to the point that it is right now is a bit hurtful.”AltonWorks remains committed to the arts, Brigham said. John Simmons remains one the largest donors of the Jacoby Arts Center, Hoven and Brigham said.“I don’t think there’s ever been a question of our support of that organization — of our affinity for that organization,” Brigham said. “While some of the events were unfortunate, some of them were encouraging. The entire community rallied around the Jacoby Arts Center. That’s a good thing. It’s a good thing to have a love for the arts like that in a downtown community.”Sara McGibany, the executive director of Alton Main Street, an organization aimed at preserving the town, said AltonWorks should be commended for its vision. In many ways, her organization and AltonWorks share a vision for a thriving downtown.Even though AltonWorks hosts public meetings, McGibany believes the current situation lacks true community engagement.“We really think that if AltonWorks can get past some of the communication hurdles — and harness the community’s passion and shift to more of a bottom-up decision-making process that centers on community input — then we can turn around the growing sentiment of distrust that’s happening now,” McGibany said.Scarborough, the past board president and downtown business owner, echoed the praise for Simmons and his support of the Jacoby Arts Center. With the Jacoby likely moving, the future looks bleak, though.“It’s a community arts center that does a lot of good work,” Scarborough said. “The community is going to suffer, and they’re going to be missed by the community if they’re not there.”

Eric Lee

St. Louis Public RadioShalanda Young, director of the federal Office of Management and Budget, talks to Illinois U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, during a tour of a construction project by AltonWorks last April in Alton. AltonWorks, who is building the LoveJoy Apartment Complex is receiving over $1 million in federal funding.

What does the future hold?AltonWorks will continue forging ahead with its ambitious plans to revitalize Alton. The organization hopes to conclude construction on the Wedge Innovation Center, which will have a restaurant, retail and co-working space, this fall. Lucas Row, a mix of apartments and retail space, is scheduled to be completed next spring.The remainder of the arts and innovation district, currently named after the Jacoby, will also move forward.“I believe in two years it’s going to be a much different place,” Brigham said of Alton. “It’s going to be thriving. It’s going to be new businesses, new tenants — and it’s going to be a nice proof of concept for what you can do in a small community like that.”The Jacoby board recently formed a strategic planning committee. Its task: figuring out what’s next for the arts center. The committee will reevaluate what space the Jacoby needs, what programs it wants to offer to the community and how they want to make that a reality.Keeping the arts center is essential for board members like Hoven. In her experience, it’s been a place where local aspiring artists get their start.“Art is one of the only ways to show your true authentic self,” Hoven said. “And there’s more people than I realized who do not get that opportunity every day.”The Jacoby will shut its doors to pack over the next month. Hoven said she’s optimistic the board will have concrete plans by the end of September when their lease officially ends.“Alton is such a fabulous and supportive community,” she said. “We still have lots of great options, so that the Jacoby Arts Center will continue to thrive in Alton and beyond.”

[ad_2]

Source link