Señor Tequila razed, new Basinger’s coming

Pharmacy owner says new Jefferson Street store should be built and open before end of the year

With Señor Tequila finally demolished, the new Basinger’s Pharmacy should be built and open for business before the end of this year, the pharmacy’s owner said.

Harish Bhatt plans to move his store in the Marycrest Shopping Center into a new building to be constructed across the street.

The new Basinger’s at 2219 W. Jefferson St. will replace the long-vacant Señor Tequila restaurant that became the target of a public nuisance complaint from the city before Bhatt had it torn down about a week ago.

“Our intention has always been good,” Bhatt said Friday. “But obviously things get delayed for one reason or another.”

City officials became impatient waiting for the demolition of the Señor Tequila building, which was considered an eyesore, after issuing a liquor license four years ago for the new Basinger’s store that is to include liquor sales.

Bhatt said the store also will include a large section devoted to medical supplies.

“There’s a tremendous need for that in this area,” he said.

Other features will include the pharmacy, general merchandise sales, areas for infusion therapy and services for long-term care facilities, Bhatt said.

“It should be finished by October or November,” he said, adding that the schedule depends on things going as planned. But construction will begin soon, he said.

“The precast panels have already been ordered,” Bhatt said. “As soon as they’re delivered, they’re going to start working.”

The plan is for a 13,746-square-foot building that will be mostly used by Basinger’s. It will include a separated 2,200-square-foot space that Bhatt said he hopes to lease to a national chain.

The Marycrest store is one of four Basinger’s Pharmacy locations in the Joliet area. The company has been in business for more than 60 years.