Report: Former Gas City Owner's Casino Company Files for Chapter 11

Legends Gaming filed for bankruptcy last week in Louisiana and will sell two of its casinos to help pay off its debts, the Associated Press reports.

Another business endeavor for former Gas City owner William McEnery is facing financial trouble after the casino company he heads filed for bankruptcy reorganization in Louisiana last week, the Associated Press reports. Legends Gaming, which has casinos in Vicksburg, Miss., and Bossier City, La., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday, July 30, in Shreveport, La., the report stated. McEnery is the company's chairman and CEO. According to the report, Legends has liabilities of anywhere from $100 million to $500 million but only has assets between $50 million to $100 million. The company also has about $163 million in debt due in 2014, the report stated. READ: McEnery's Personal Financial Problems Worsen Legends also will sell its two …

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Report: Former Gas City Owner's Money Problems Worsen

Creditors want William McEnery's personal bankruptcy case to become a liquidation because he has too many claims and could evict him from his house, Sun-Times Media reports.

William McEnery, the former Gas City owner who saw his chain of gas stations sold off last year as part of the company's bankruptcy, now faces increasing financial troubles in his personal bankruptcy case, and his own lawyers want out, Sun-Times Media reports. Here, according to the report, which cites court records, are the developments for McEnery: These new problems appear to be the final chapters in the story of McEnery's crumbling financial empire, an empire that at one time had its center in Frankfort, where Gas City was headquartered. But things began to crumble when the company filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2010. This was followed by the auctioning of the stations last year. McEnery's also saw his other properties, …

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Green Garden Country Club Sold for More Than $5 Million

The 415-acre golf course and club was purchased at auction Monday by the owners of Hickory Hills Country Club.

The owners of a Hickory Hills golf course have a few more greens to take care of after buying Green Garden Country Club for $5.9 million at an auction Monday, March 12, the deal's sales agent said.  READ: Green Garden Country Club Put on the Auction Block The 415-acre country club, golf course and golf dome was sold to Hickory Hills Country, which is owned by Hickory Properties, to pay off debts as part of former William McEnery's personal bankruptcy case, said Steven L. Victor, the sales agent for Development Specialists Inc., which handled the sale. McEnery,whose Frankfort-based Gas City company sought bankruptcy protection in late 2010, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy himself in August 2011 for more than $225 million in creditor claims…

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Green Garden Country Club to Go Up for Sale

The potential sale of the 415-acre golf course, country club and golf dome is part of owner William McEnery's personal bankruptcy case.

Green Garden Country Club is getting ready to be put up for sale, another casualty in the continuing fallout of the financial troubles of the golf course's owner, William McEnery. The 415-acre country club, golf course and golf dome will be sold to pay off debts as part of McEnery's personal bankruptcy case. McEnery, whose Frankfort-based Gas City company sought bankruptcy protection in late 2010, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy himself in August 2011, said Steven L. Victor, the sales agent for Development Specialists Inc., which is handling the golf course's sale. No one at the golf course was available to talk about the sale, according to a woman answering the phone at Green Garden on Monday. READ: A Look at Gas City's Past and Future …

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Editor's Notebook

Is This the End of Gas City?

A hearing today before a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Chicago could put the final nail in the coffin for the Frankfort-based company. But will it answer questions swirling around its embattled owner?

An oversize cow grazes in a meager corral on the grounds of 21660 S. LaGrange Road, nearby tree branches draped over its black-and-white fiberglass haunches. This immobile bovine is probably the last recognizable vestige of the Gas City empire, which began crumbling when its owner, William McEnery, decided to have the gas station and truck stop chain file for bankruptcy almost a year ago. Look around for other signs of the company's existence, and you'll find that they are rapidly disappearing. The Gas City service stations that once dotted the Lincoln-Way area, as well as other Chicago suburbs, are gone, auctioned off to and replaced by Speedway gas stations. Type "www.gascity.net" into your web browser, and the company's site no longer …

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Judge Approves Gas City Sale: Who Bought Which Station?

Frankfort-based company now must negotiate with individual bidders. Plus, we list all the purchasers of the 50 stations in Illinois, Indiana, Arizona and Florida.

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Chicago approved Wednesday the sale of Gas City's 50 stations in Illinois, Indiana, Arizona and Florida to 14 bidders, according to Crain's Chicago Business report. Gas City auctioned off its stations April 4 as part of the company's bankruptcy protection filing. The next step is for Gas City to negotiate with the individual buyers, said Daniel Zazove, the attorney representing the Frankfort-based company in the sale, last week.  Since Frankfort Patch reported about the auction's high bidders on April 12, we've received multiple requests for the buyers of Gas City's stations, so we're running the complete list, taken from court documents. Addresses only are provided for area stations. Go here to find the …

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Speedway to Buy Gas City Stations in Frankfort, Surrounding Area

The Ohio-based gas station and convenience store chain placed winning bids on Gas City properties throughout the South Suburbs.

Speedway LLC is the potential buyer of multiple Gas City stations in the area, including Frankfort, Mokena and New Lenox, according to court documents. Last week, the Frankfort-based Gas City auctioned off its 50 stations in Illinois, Indiana, Florida and Arizona as part of the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in order to pay off debts. On Wednesday, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Chicago will decide whether to approve the sale of those stations. After that, Gas City will work with the indivdual buyers to close the sales of the properties. Speedway, which is owned by Marathon Petroleum Co., is an Ohio-based chain of gas stations and convenience stores with locations throughout the Midwest. A spokesman for Speedway said he could not…

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Gas City Auctions Off Stations for $135 Million to Pay Back Debts

The Frankfort-based company sells its 50 stations to 14 buyers as part of Chapter 11 filing. Its future as a business is uncertain.

Gas City's 50 service stations and truck stops were auctioned off for $135 million Monday as part of the company's bankruptcy protection filing, leaving the future of the Frankfort-based business uncertain. 14 different buyers purchased the stations, and multiple bids were placed on most of the properties, said Daniel Zazove, the Chicago attorney representing Gas City. In the Chicago area, the stations include locations in Frankfort, Mokena, New Lenox, Shorewood, Oswego, Darien and Joliet. Stations elsewhere in the state, as well as in Indiana, Arizona and Florida, also were auctioned off. Gas City owner William McEnery filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago on Oct. 26. Court documents list company …

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8:40 am on Wednesday, June 20, 2012

I use to be the manager there during 9-11, and yes it was the only gas station around.   more ›

What's Ahead

SPECIAL 2011 EDITION: A Look at 5 Stories to Watch for in the Coming Months

From the widening of U.S. Route 30 to Bluegrass on the Green, we predict what will be making headlines this year.

We've shaken off the final remnants of 2010, and now it's time to look forward to 2011. Here are the five headlines to watch out for in this first year of the new decade. U.S. Route 30 construction: It's the dreaded beast so evil that you dare not speak its name. An 8.5-mile stretch that runs from Harlem Avenue to Williams Street in New Lenox will be widened from a two-lane to a four-lane highway. With bidding by construction companies set for later this month, the project is tentatively scheduled to run from summer of this year until late 2012. Start mapping your detours now. Gas City bankruptcy and the financial trouble of owner William McEnery: Late last year, Gas City, which is headquartered in Frankfort, filed for Chapter 11, and …

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Could Course's Uncertain Future Leave Golfers in the Lurch?

Frankfort's Green Garden Golf Course faces foreclosure, which could force some leagues to scramble to find a new place to tee up.

December in Illinois means temperatures in the single digits and snow on the ground. People are thinking about hitting sledding hills, not hitting golf balls. But the recent news that First Midwest Bank has filed a foreclosure suit against Green Garden Country Club and its owner William McEnery has left a few area golfers—especially those in leagues—wondering if they'll still be able to tee up at the Frankfort course. Calls to Green Garden Country Club went unanswered Monday and Tuesday, but a recording said that the clubhouse restaurant was open with winter hours (closed Monday-Thursday and open Friday-Sunday), as was the golf dome and pro shop. Scott Tierney, who runs the Frankfort Park District Golf League, says he hasn't heard …

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