Newly remodeled restaurant and bar reopens in Belleville. Bring your own food, for now
Big Daddy’s 618 reopened Thursday, March 4, after closing its doors for the winter.
Posts on the business’ Facebook page announced the opening. One post added that food will not be served at this time.
Owner Scott Schmelzel said their kitchen may not be ready for preparing food until this summer. He added that reopening a business is difficult and that pandemic restrictions caused delays, particularly with inventory and staff.
However, Schmelzel encourages patrons to bring their own food and come out for a great time.
Schmelzel said in November that COVID-19 restrictions at the time made it impossible to make a profit with the cold winter months approaching. “We are losing more money by being open,” said Schmelzel, “than if we just closed down.”
The winter was spent renovating the downtown Belleville restaurant and bar.
Schmelzel recently posted a video on Facebook featuring downtown Belleville businesses preparing to reopen, including Big Daddy’s 618, Bennie’s Pizza Pub and Spaces.
In the video, Schmelzel talks about the renovations at Big Daddy’s, starting with improvements made during the first pandemic closure in March 2020.
“We renovated the bathrooms. We did some painting, we touched up the bar, we did some lighting,” said Schmelzel. “We did a lot of things in March so you would walk into a new place once we reopened in May.”
Since November, larger improvements were made, including replacing an exterior wall with a garage door leading to the patio area. Industrial ceiling fans and sconce lighting in the bar area were installed, going for what Schmelzel calls “a warehouse type of a look.”
Schmelzel ends the video with a plea to “support local, support downtown. You’re gonna like what you see coming in 2021 in downtown Belleville.”
Big Daddy’s 618 is located at 313 E. Main St. in Belleville. Hours at Big Daddy’s are 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday-Wednesday and 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday-Friday. For more information, call 618-257-0315.
A Belleville McDonald’s is getting a complete overhaul
A Belleville McDonald’s restaurant is closing and will be demolished and rebuilt.
The restaurant located at 906 Carlyle Ave. in Belleville was scheduled to close at the end of the day Sunday, March 7, according to Terry Knoth of Estel Foods Inc.
Demolition of the building is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. Monday, March 15, said Knoth. The project is expected to take about three months to complete. The restaurant should reopen in June.
Employees at the Belleville location have been offered positions with other area locations for the duration of the project, Knoth said.
The restaurant’s owner, James E. Williams Jr., applied for Tax Increment Financing in February 2020 to help fund the project, which was originally scheduled to begin in November. The development agreement with the city was with Williams’ company, Estel Foods Inc., and not McDonald’s Corp. Belleville City Council members rejected the proposal in a 8-6 vote.
An application for the project was again submitted by Farnsworth Group, on behalf of McDonald’s Corp., in October 2020, according to Belleville City Council records.
The Belleville City Council approved the site plan, landscape plan and architectural elevations for the project earlier this year.
The Carlyle Avenue restaurant was first built in 1979. A major renovation was done in 2001.
A donation will help improve an Edwardsville building
Main Street Community Center in Edwardsville will be getting a new look, thanks to a generous donation.
Harry and Carol Windland have provided funds to paint the building’s exterior, stated a recent press release issued by the center. The amount of the donation was not included in the release.
“We strive to provide a warm welcome to all who visit the center, and the new look will definitely help with that,” said Executive Director Sara Berkbigler.
Painting the building has been on the center’s to-do list for several years, according to the release. The center had completed a new parking lot and greenspace, and the exterior was next on the list.
“Due to the pandemic, most of the grants and donations received in 2020 have been designated for food and supplies. Our online fundraisers have not been as successful as our in-person events of years past,” stated Berkbigler. “As a result, the painting project would not have been possible without this donation.
“Although important to us, it was not something we could prioritize at this time without the designated gift. We are so thankful for the Windland’s commitment to the center. We are excited to see the building come to life with a fresh new look.”
Main Street Community Center is located at 1003 N. Main St. in Edwardsville. For more information, call 618-656-0300 or visit the website at mainstcc.org.
Screen printing company settles in at new location
Belleville Screen Printing Company has moved to a new location at 307 Mascoutah Ave. in Belleville.
Formerly located at 126 E. Main St., the screen printing and embroidery shop had temporarily closed in December, according to posts on the business’ Facebook page. The company announced in January that it had purchased the building on Mascoutah Ave., adding that this was the company’s first time in 11 years to cease production.
In February, the company posted an update on the status of its new location’s progress and adjustments they had to make during the pandemic.
“Like all small businesses, we had to adapt to a completely different way of commerce,” stated the update. “We adopted and pushed the hell out of online stores, we revved up our own retail, and immersed ourselves in what we thought were bigger projects.”
The update concluded, “We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but some big dates are quickly approaching. We are doing everything in our power to meet these deadlines and get back to doing what we love to do … Print Shirts! We just want to print shirts for You!”
Belleville Screen Printing Company has already resumed printing. The website shows that hours are currently by appointment only. For information, call 618-277-9600, find them on Facebook or visit bellevillescreen.com.
This story was originally published March 9, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
