WEST CHICAGO – A DuPage County judge Monday ruled that Diamonds Gentlemen's Club near West Chicago can be demolished to make way for the proposed widening of North Avenue.
The club is at the southeast corner of North Avenue and Powis Road in unincorporated DuPage County. DuPage Circuit Judge John Elsner stated in a written decision that the seizure of the property was "necessary."
He also said Illinois Department of Transportation officials had acted in good faith when they tried to negotiate with On Stage Productions, the club's owner.
Representatives for Diamonds Gentleman's Club and its attorney could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
IDOT officials were pleased with the ruling.
"We believe this is an important project that will improve safety on a congested roadway," IDOT spokesman Guy Tridgell said.
The project, estimated to cost $37.8 million, would widen North Avenue between Kautz Road and Route 59 from four lanes to six lanes. The project also includes resurfacing North Avenue from Kautz to Dunham roads, Tridgell said.
Demolition work and tree removal will be completed this year, Tridgell said. The widening project is set to get under way in 2012, with completion in 2013, he said.
Diamonds and On Stage Productions are being sued by the families of John Chiariello of St. Charles and April Simmons of Yorkville. They sued the club after Chiariello, Simmons and her unborn child were killed in a 2006 drunken-driving crash on Route 25. Driver John Homatas, then 25, of Wayne, was drunk and high when he left the club the night of Jan. 4, 2006, with Chiariello in his passenger seat, according to trial testimony.
About a half hour later, his Jeep crashed into Simmons' SUV on Route 25, near South Elgin.
A jury convicted Homatas after a June 2007 trial on multiple counts of aggravated drunken driving and reckless homicide. He is serving a 12-year prison sentence.
The Illinois Supreme Court last year ruled the lawsuit could proceed. Diamonds had a "bring your own beverage" policy in place at the time of the crash.
The DuPage County Board in 2009 passed an ordinance banning open liquor in adult businesses.
