The Velvet Rope Ultra Lounge went up in flames in 2012.
This week the former owner Frank Elliot was charged with arson and insurance fraud.
Businesses on both sides of the restaurant, Gepetto’s Toy Box and Flat Top Grill, also had water and smoke damage and were closed for some time for cleanup.
Elliot told local media he believed his establishment was targeted because it catered to a gay clientele
ABC 7 Chicago reported:
A bar owner admitted he set his gay nightclub on fire in Oak Park.
Frank Elliott pleaded guilty to arson and insurance fraud for the fire at The Velvet Rope Ultra Lounge in 2012.
Prosecutors said Elliott doused the bar in alcohol, wrote gay slurs on the wall, then lit it on fire.
He was sentenced to two years’ probation and has to pay back $107,000 to two insurance companies.
