Owners of the company launching a new cannabis dispensary in Kewanee say they’re eager to open their doors as soon as possible.

Remodeling of the former Broken Chimney restaurant building on Tenney Street for the dispensary is complete, and the company anticipated an opening last fall.

But Chad Anderson said the dispensary can’t open until state inspection of the facility.

Anderson is the vice president of HVN Enterprises, a company organized locally to operate the dispensary.

He said he hopes the inspection can be made soon, but the company hasn’t been notified yet of an inspection date.

Anderson said once the state gives the go-ahead, HVN will start hiring the 15 to 25 employees that will be needed to run the dispensary.

“We’ve had a large number of applications,” he said.

He added that it wouldn’t be fair to applicants to start hiring people before the opening date is known.

Applicants will have to have a background check by the state before they can work at the dispensary, Anderson said.

Customers at the dispensary will have to show an ID three times before they can purchase cannabis, Anderson said. IDs will be checked at the entrance to the building, at the door of the sales floor and at the cash register, he said.

According to the Illinois Cannabis Information website, “Illinois’s legal marijuana market is flourishing,” and reports show that residents and visitors purchased cannabis worth over a billion dollars at state-licensed dispensaries in 2021. Illinois fully legalized cannabis in 2020.

According to a 2022 cannabis report, the state generated $435 million in tax revenue for that year, compared to the $293 million and $49 million the state generated in 2021 and 2020.

Illinois has approximately 122,000 registered medical marijuana patients, which grew to 161,059 patients by August of 2021.