Plan for brewery on Durty Nellie’s site advances to Palatine village council
Plans to turn Durty Nellie’s downtown Palatine into a new restaurant and brewery received an enthusiastic reception Tuesday from the village’s planning and zoning commission.
But the prospective owners also heard questions from the commission and public about whether their Big Grove Brewery would continue to host live music and how they would honor the legacy of the iconic pub they hope to replace.
Commissioners unanimously recommended the plan, sending it to the village council for further consideration at its Sept. 8 meeting.
“This is a good representation of what’s referred to as a third space,” Commissioner Stephen Fedota said. “First space being your home, second space being your workplace. The third space, a gathering space for full family usage.”
Big Grove has a contract to purchase the Nellie’s building at 180 N. Smith St. CEO Matthew Swift and Chief Operating Officer Mike Wehr outlined their renovation plans for the commission Tuesday.
Those include a major makeover for the first floor, including tearing out the stage to make space for a brewery. The second floor would be used mainly for private events, such as for corporate gatherings and weddings.
A major focus of the new venue would be a covered patio, a feature of Big Grove’s six other locations in the Midwest. The company started in 2013 in a Solon, Iowa and has since expanded to Iowa City, Cedar Rapids and Des Moines, Iowa, Omaha, Nebraska, and suburban Kansas City, Kansas.
The Durty Nellie’s property landed on Swift’s radar when he had lunch in Iowa City with friend and Palatine resident Jeremy Brade.
“That is the coolest place in town,” Swift recalled Brade telling him. “That could be the neatest thing you could ever do.”
Swift told commissioners he previously considered a location in the West Loop before landing on Palatine.
Wehr noted that the Chicago region has close ties to the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City. About 42% of the university’s student population comes from the Chicago area, with strong representation in the Northwest suburbs.
“We are the official crafter of the Hawkeyes, and we just launched our distribution in the Chicagoland area last Monday,” he said. “We believe becoming part of a community like Palatine can help us grow our distribution dollars as well within Illinois.”
Wehr anticipates Big Grove producing 200 to 300 barrels of beer annually in Palatine. Its beers such as Easy Eddy, a hazy India Pale Ale, have won awards.
He said he also hopes to take advantage of the site’s proximity to the Metra station.
“We hope we’re drawing in people from Crystal Lake and Arlington Heights and from other places, other suburbs around here,” he said.
Big Grove locations are community melting pots, with a broad range of clientele including retired women playing Mahjong, couples on dates and families with young children.
The Palatine location would be more of a dinner spot than a late-night destination, with closing times of 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends.
Commission Chair Jan Wood asked if there would be live music.
Wehr said other locations have done live music on a small scale.
“We weren’t very good at music,” Swift added. “We’re not against having some music to accompany dinner, but it wouldn’t be like a rock concert. We want to enhance the guest experience.”
The commission heard from Durty Nellie’s customer Deb Gabriel, who asked whether Big Grove would homage to its predecessor
“I really appreciate the craft beer concept as much as I am sad to see some of the things that I love about Durty Nellie’s go away,” she said.
Wehr said Big Grove plans to keep the boulder honoring Ted Nugent’s mother outside Durty Nellie’s.
“I do believe we’ll be able to pay homage to Durty Nellie’s and what they meant to Palatine over the years,” he said. “We want to make it Palatine. It would be dumb of us just to forget that Durty Nellie’s ever existed.”
szalusky@dailyherald.com