A developing situation at iconic Champaign venue
Aug. 2—CHAMPAIGN — If buildings had feelings, the old round barn near the corner of Springfield and Mattis avenues might be described as looking a bit forlorn.
The more-than-century-old barn has been vacant since its last tenant, Famous Dave's restaurant, moved out in 2010, and the connected banquet center hasn't been operated since early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The exterior is currently sporting a tarp on the barn roof, and the barn's red paint is peeling like a bad case of sunburn.
"It's obviously seen better days," said a spokeswoman for the owner, Shapland Realty Manager Laura Shapland.
Still, she urged, "don't judge a book by its cover."
Inside, the former Famous Dave's and banquet center remain furnished, as though they might be awaiting the next customers. Famous Dave's even left behind all the restaurant's decor.
And Shapland Realty is putting more than $100,000 a year into maintaining the interiors, including HVAC and alarm systems and continuing pest control, Shapland said.
"We actually do a lot of upkeep in there," she said.
And while the barn and banquet center are empty, the other buildings in Round Barn Centre hold a lot of businesses.
"The local businesses have thrived there," Shapland said.
It would be nice to see the barn and banquet center make a come-back, she said. The buildings remain viable and, other than the roof, what needs to done is "just cosmetics," she said.
But Shapland Realty's willingness to invest in improving this property is awaiting the outcome of several unknowns, among them whether a new buyer for neighboring Country Fair Shopping Center materializes and makes some improvements there, she said.
"How much we can do for it depends on what the area is going to end up looking like," Shapland said of the Round Barn property.
The aging Country Fair Shopping Center has been on the market since last year — reflecting the first time in more than 30 years it's been for sale.
Champaign Planning and Development Director Bruce Knight said Country Fair's absentee owner hasn't reinvested in the property, "so we certainly would be interested in seeing new ownership and the reinvestment in that area of the city."
One thing Knight said he doesn't think the city will be pursuing is a change Shapland said she thinks could help this commercial area — asking the state to reconsider widening Springfield Avenue.
In the mid-1980s, the state's proposal to widen Springfield Avenue was one of the more contentious issues to land before the city council, to the extent that Springfield Avenue residents tied yellow banners around trees that would have been cut down to widen the road. Given the objection from the public, the state eventually dropped the idea.
Shapland said she and some others believe east-west commuters avoid Springfield Avenue because they know they'll hit a bottleneck in the narrower section of the road east of Russell Street.
"It gets people off that street and they don't come that way," she said.
Knight said the Springfield and Mattis intersection is one of the highest-traffic intersections in the city.
"I don't think there's a lack of traffic there," he said.
And things have changed since the mid-1980s.
These days, the city takes the "complete street" approach, which means making streets safely accessible to all kinds of users, including pedestrians and bicyclists, rather than just widening pavement for vehicles, according to Knight.
The city would love to see some reinvestment in the round barn building, he said.
As for this area of Champaign, a buyer for Country Fair Shopping Center, "that's really key," Knight said.
Shapland said the city has invested a lot of time and interest in the downtown, and now she's hoping to see the city take more interest in the Round Barn Centre/Country Fair Shopping Center area of town.
"I think it's not one solution," Shapland said. "It's kind of a myriad of things that need to come together to make a change in that area."
