







by BRIAN NADIG

The new operator of a planned liquor store in Downtown Norwood Park will be introduced at a community meeting that Alderman Anthony Napolitano (41st) will hold at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 30, at the Norwood Park fieldhouse, 5801 N. Natoma Ave.

The 2,000-square-foot store, which would be the first liquor store in the area, would operate at 6054-56 N. Northwest Hwy. in the 6060 Plaza shopping center.

A ban on liquor sales was lifted in parts of the area in 2006, which led to the opening of several restaurants with bars and a retail liquor section in Ada’s Market and Deli, 6165 N. Northwest Hwy.

Bill Assimakopoulos, who grew up on the Northwest Side and went to Taft High School, was planning to open the liquor store, but he recently dropped out of the project. Napolitano endorsed the project after Assimakopoulos agreed to a closing time of 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends and a ban on the sale of water pipes, loose cigarettes and high-gravity malt liquors such as Colt 45.

Napolitano’s chief of staff Chris Vittorio said that the owner of the shopping center found a new operator who would agree to the restrictions that Assimakopoulos had accepted. The restrictions would become a condition of the store’s liquor license.

Vittorio said that the meeting is intended to make sure that residents are comfortable with the new operator and that the operator is aware of any concerns which residents may have about the project.