SYCAMORE – A new distillery and restaurant space in Sycamore is one step closer to opening after the Sycamore City Council gave its unanimous approval this week for the developer’s plans for the former Anaconda Wire Co. factory.
Since October, Chris Mayer of BCM Industrial Park LLC has sought to gain city approval for a restaurant and event space that would be attached to Windows Distillery at 421. N. California St.
That effort culminated in approval by a 7-0 vote of the necessary ordinance changes, and Mayer’s special-use permit request, for the distillery and event space. The ordinance changes allow for breweries, distilleries and alcohol tasting rooms, among other things.
Over the past month, at each government meeting the proposal has been discussed, members of the public have increasingly pressured city officials to allow the project.
Sycamore Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rose Treml, who attended the Sycamore City Council meeting Monday, said she believes the new business venture will bring money to the city.
“We believe the repurposing of a small portion of this once-thriving industrial complex will generate untold economic impact for Sycamore while bringing in tax revenue and abundant employment opportunities for our community,” Treml said. “This project reimagines and gives rebirth to this iconic historical industrial complex that has become unusable in its present condition and continues to be an attractive nuisance.”
Treml said Sycamore has a history of retooling old buildings for new businesses and organizations. The DeKalb County Community Foundation, 475 DeKalb Ave, Sycamore, has called the Sycamore Train Depot, built in 1880, its home since 2012; and Blumen Gardens, 403 Edward St., Sycamore, has been located in the former Marsh Harvester Factory, built in 1869, for the past 42 years.
The 41,300-square-foot industrial space would include a distillery with a full-service restaurant, live entertainment stages, a tasting room and event spaces, according to concept plans.
According to preliminary project details, no liquor will be produced at the Sycamore Industrial Park site. Instead, liquor distilled off-site will be taken to the facility to be proofed, mixed and bottled.
That Sycamore Industrial Park site, however, used to be the Sycamore Anaconda Wire Co. factory, a building that local clergy recently have described as a blight to the neighborhood.
Fourth Ward Alderwoman Virginia Sherrod’s father used to work at the Anaconda factory, and she said during a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting this month that she is “so happy and so glad that someone took an interest in that building.”
Sherrod, Mayer and Treml weren’t the only ones urging the new business space to be approved.
Individuals who said they’re part of a Sycamore Whiskey Club spoke in support of the proposal, and a petition also has circulated to drum up support for Mayer’s development plans. As of Friday, the petition had 1,053 signatures.
State Rep. Jeff Keicher, a Republican lawmaker who lives in Sycamore, has attended two recent Sycamore government meetings with the proposal on the agenda.
“The people of Sycamore showed up to be sure an ongoing project to enhance our community starts getting the support from the city that it already has from the citizens,” Keicher wrote in a Facebook post a day after the project received city approval.
Mayer spoke to the Daily Chronicle in early November at the site, which sits largely empty. It’s ready, however, for new life, he said. Armed with the city’s permission, Mayer has plenty to do before the restaurant space can open, but he said he hopes to have the new business ventures up and running before the end of 2024.
“[I] appreciate the outpouring [of] support from the community, [and I’m] happy with the outcome,” Mayer wrote in a text to the Daily Chronicle after the proposal was approved. “[I’m] looking forward to getting everything rolling and welcoming the community to the wonderful new space.”
