Mount Prospect eatery serving its last meal

Little America restaurant, a longtime fixture in downtown Mount Prospect, will soon close its doors for good.

The news isn’t all bad, though, as the site will become the home for an expanded Mount Prospect State Bank facility.

Mount Prospect officials earlier this week approved plans for a new bank building at 299 W. Central Road. The bank will include drive-through lanes, which are not available at the bank’s current location on Northwest Highway.

“For a bank to be successful in this area, you really need that drive-up service,” said bank president John Eilering, a Mount Prospect resident.

The owners of Little America, which has been open in Mount Prospect for nearly 30 years, plan to retire and sell the property. The owners were not available for comment Thursday.

Eilering said the precise timetable for demolition of the restaurant building and construction of the bank is still being worked out. Bank representatives hope the exterior of the new building can go up before the winter months.

The new bank, projected to be roughly 6,300 square feet, will be bigger than the current one. It will include three drive-through lanes on the east side of the building.

Mount Prospect State Bank, a branch of Glenview State Bank, prides itself on being a community institution, Eilering said. The bank opened on Northwest Highway in 2010.

“I’d say roughly one-third of the staff lives in Mount Prospect,” he said. “We like that connection, and we look forward to serving the community even better from our new location.”