Chuck E. Cheese's Announces Exit Date To Leave Oak Lawn

OAK LAWN, IL -- CEC Entertainment has signed an agreement to pull its Chuck E. Cheese’s franchise out of Oak Lawn by Dec. 17, 2017.

Oak Lawn trustees voted to accept the agreement brokered by Mayor Sandra Bury and Tr. Terry Vorderer (Dist. 4) Tuesday night after discussing it in executive session. The agreement puts a date on CEC Entertainment’s planned exit to relocate the children’s fun emporium out of Oak Lawn.

“This action is the right thing to do for the taxpayers of Oak Lawn,” Bury said in a written statement. “By allowing Chuck E Cheese an orderly exit out of our community, taxpayers are saved the high cost of certain litigation and over 100 jobs may be saved. The Village did not waive any of their rights moving forward and any other path would take more time and be more costly for residents. I applaud this decision and thank Trustee Vorderer, our management team and counsel for this big win for our taxpayers.”

The Village of Oak Lawn had an ongoing dispute with CEC Entertainment concerning a number of incidents at Chuck E. Cheese’s over the years. Although CEC attempted to mend fences with the village by cleaning up its profile in the community, the breaking point came when a man was shot leaving the restaurant with his children in December.

Police said the man was “uncooperative” with their investigation to find the shooters. Rather than face possible revocation of its village business license, CEC Entertainment said it would just leave.Oak Lawn.

According to the village’s agreement with CEC Entertainment, the village reserves the right to address any further incidents of violence or public safety issues before the agreed upon exit date. CEC also agreed to relocate the restaurant by Dec. 17, regardless of any pending disciplinary actions.

CEC also agreed not to renew the business license for Chuck E. Cheese, which is set to expire April 30. Instead, the village will extend the license at 60-day intervals while CEC works out the logistics to relocate the restaurant.

The restaurant will also voluntarily reduce its business hours on Friday and Saturday nights beginning July 22. Chuck E. Cheese’s close at 8 p.m. on those days until permanently closes. CEC will also continue to maintain the village-ordered security measures currently in force. Should CEC take action to reduce those measures, Chuck E. Cheese’s will cease operations immediately.

"I'm happy we were able to resolve this issue in the best interest of Oak Lawn without a lengthy court battle,” Vorderer said.

This story has been updated.