Fairview Heights City Council signs off on new project for former Smokey Bones site
After plans to build a new car wash in Fairview Heights fell through, a new facility is back in the works at the former Smokey Bones site.
The City Council approved an application for a special use permit and site plan development for a new 5,028-square-foot automated Club Car Wash facility at 6118 N. Illinois St. Tuesday night.
The property has been vacant since July when the Smokey Bones building was torn.
Eric Kirchner of Club Car Wash was present at the meeting and gave a few project highlights that included the addition of more green space in what is currently a mostly paved lot.
The car wash has “the capacity for stacking 29 cars in the receiving lane” and will employ 12 people across three shifts, according to the application.
Operating hours will be 1 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.
Kirchner said construction plans would soon be finalized and permits hopefully approved by the end of January.
Construction is slated to begin in early 2025.
Previous plans for a car wash
Club Car Wash is the second car wash company to apply for the addition of a new facility at 6118 N. Illinois St.
A similar project was previously approved by the city when Take 5 Car Wash submitted an application in April 2023. The council voted to approve a special use permit and site development plan in July 2023. But a Jan. 10, 2024, memo from Land Use and Development Director Dallas Alley to the council stated that the Take 5 project was canceled.
Another memo from Alley to the council, also dated Jan. 10, stated that land use and development was working with legal council regarding the existing building.
Alley told the BND in July that after the deal to build a Take 5 Car Wash fell through, the city filed a lawsuit against the property owner to demolish the building. The property owner, Spirit Master Funding VII, LLC, was given a deadline of Aug. 16 to demolish the building.
The old Smokey Bones building was demolished in late July.
Club Car Wash, formerly Tidal Wave, previously applied to the city for a permit to open a car wash. That application was submitted to the city in September 2022 for the property at 10860 Lincoln Trail. This is the former Steak ‘n Shake site and current location of a Starbucks that opened this summer.
Club Car Wash currently has locations in Belleville, Collinsville, Edwardsville and O’Fallon. For more information, visit clubcarwash.com.
