Planned Elgin pizzeria gets grant to aid opening
Chooch’s Pizzeria is one step closer to opening its doors in Elgin’s downtown.
Elgin City Council members gave preliminary approval to a $21,912 grant for brothers Mike and Dan Buttiro to improve the front and back facades of their soon-to-be pizzeria at 64 S. Grove Ave.
Council members previously budgeted $50,000 for the Facade Improvement Program in 2011, a commitment they honored with unanimous support during their committee of the whole meeting Wednesday.
Besides the facade improvement grant, the Buttiros also received $40,000 from Elgin’s commercial energy retrofit grant program. The latest grant covers 35 percent of total project expenses and the energy grant covers 50 percent.
Mike Buttiro said he has a couple other grant applications still in the works, one of the reasons why he and his brother chose Elgin as the location for their business.
“That was one of the main draws,” Buttiro said. “Elgin, with all the incentive programs, it just made it so you have to take advantage of it.”
All the windows in the front on Grove Avenue as well as the back on Riverside Drive will be replaced. A new handicapped ramp and stairs will go in the back as well as a cement patio for outdoor seating.
The building architecture will also get a touch up, keeping in mind the historical design.
In a memo to the city council, the Downtown Neighborhood Association Design Review Committee gave its support to the Buttiro proposal, commending it as an example of sustainable, preservation-focused downtown development.
“The project will serve as a catalyst for additional private investment along Grove Avenue when coupled with the renovation of the Riverside Drive Promenade in the spring of 2012,” the committee memo concluded.
Buttiro said the construction work will begin as soon as possible with the hope of a grand opening in January. The project started three years ago but was delayed because of a poor economy, leaving the Buttiros excited to finally have the pieces fall into place.