By Jason Crane
The Montgomery Village Board viewed a presentation by Phil Cullen, owner of Ballydoyle Irish Pub & Restaurant in Aurora and Downers Grove and Empire in Naperville, about redeveloping the vacant Gray’s Mill property, at the Village Board meeting Monday, through the Zoom video conferencing platform.
Cullen shared his vision of renovating the Gray’s Mill on the Fox River in downtown Montgomery at the southeast corner of River and Mill Streets in Montgomery. The building has been vacant for approximately three years and previous businesses included a barbecue restaurant and a casual American fare restaurant and bar.
A video of the Montgomery Village Board meeting with a conceptual plan of the proposed project can be viewed on the Village’s YouTube page. The presentation starts at approximately the 3 minute mark. You can click on the embedded screen below:
The historic structure was built in 1853 as a water-powered turbine flour mill on the Fox River. It operated until 1916, when ice on the River destroyed the dam. Electricity allowed the mill a replacement power source until it shut down in 1922.
For the next several decades, the mill stood empty. In 1945, Ernest Anfinsen purchased the building to manufacture automotive parts. The building was abandoned following Anfinsen’s death in 1971. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Cullen said the project would include help from partners Brian Dolan and Mike Baum. The proposed name in the new venture was revealed as Gray’s Mill Estate and eventually would include two wedding spaces.
To start, the facility would be able to provide space for one wedding per night and soon after that could increase to two weddings each night.
The development would include a speak easy named Danny Boy’s after the late Dan Dolan, Sr. the commercial real estate developer who was responsible for a high percentage of developments in the Aurora area.
The top level in the building would be guest quarters similar to a ski lodge with five rooms. Families could stay there together for the wedding and when not in use, the rooms could be rented as an Airbandb.
Cullen said he would like to add a converted grain bin as an outdoor lighthouse, or second story viewing area of the Fox River as a riverside cocktail bar.
Cullen said the proposal includes a retractable roof and said the retractable roof at his Empire establishment in Naperville was the best money he’s invested in for a place “because it’s paid for itself a hundred fold.”
It was noted that funds from the Montgomery Development Fund (MDF) were available for this type of use.
The MDF was established in 2017 to provide financial support to new or expanding business in the Village and to encourage economic development by supporting projects that create or retain jobs and to encourage area financial institutions to work with the Village and to utilize MDF programs to better serve both its customers and Montgomery and to support projects and investments that protect and expand the tax base.
Some concerns from Village trustees were the amount of available parking for two wedding events, and the funding of two $200,000 grants Cullen requested from the Village.
Cullen agreed both $200,00 grants would be at different stages of the project.
Brolley stated, “If it ties into certain improvements on the site, reality is fixing the roof on this site, elevators, and all that kind of thing really is improving the value of that building for the future of our town.
“You know that we’re very tied to this building, it’s in our logo, it’s our most historic structure and this is going to outlive any of us here, so we want to make sure anything we do on that site is sustainable.
Brolley said “I do feel like we probably need to memorialize all of this into some sort of an agreement for approval so you lock in what you’re getting from the Village and how we’re going to aid.
“Anything we can do in relation to flooding, Army Corps (of Engineers), I’ll leave that to our engineers to figure out how we’re going to look at that.
“It’s all positive on my end here. I know there’s nuts and bolts we’ll have to work through on certain things. I hope you’ll find the Village staff will be very responsive and perhaps very quick to respond to anything you need in this effort.” Brolley said.
Cullen said, “I came into Downers Grove 20 years ago and said ‘I’m going to build a pub.’ They all said, I’d never make it. It was too big of a space, and every restaurant before me had failed.
“I turned a really deserted building in Downers Grove. It’s a top Irish pub seven years in a row. I know how to do this and I think it’s going to be unbelievable when it’s all said and done.
Cullen said, “I’m going to do things I haven’t had a chance to do that I’ve really always wanted to do. Same with Mike Baum. I look forward to becoming partners and making this thing work out, for all of us. I think it’ll be a great thing when it’s all done!”
Mike Baum, one of the partners on the project shared some thoughts in an E-mail to The Voice. He wrote, “We feel that purchasing and upgrading one of the best preserved pre-Civil War grain mills is significant, but the addition that we will build on the back of the building is the game changer. Gray’s Mill sits on one of the most beautiful locations on the Fox River, and we are going to now provide spectacular views of the river and Montgomery bridge. We are also going to create park-like settings along the river and around the building that folks will want to visit.
“This new space will make Gray’s Mill into one of the premier destinations in the area, and set the table for more development to come in downtown Montgomery.
“In addition, are also going to create “Baum’s Bier Garten” overlooking the river next to the bridge that will serve German beer and food. It will be have a genuine German vibe and feel.”
• Unanimously approved was a bid for the sale of the property where the recently-demolished Mill Tavern stood at 310 N. River Street, kitty-corner to Gray’s Mill.
Edward Schleining, on behalf of the Wurst Kitchen Sausage Company based in Aurora, was the only bidder on the property and bid $5,000.
The bid was opened at the October 12 Village Board meeting.
It isn’t the first time Schleining expressed interest in the property. In 2012 he proposed to restore the old building on the property, but an agreement couldn’t be completed.
The Wurst Sausage Company is celebrating 125 years in business and has been at 638 Second Avenue and Union Street in Aurora since 1895.
Brolley said, “I would be remiss if I didn’t specifically thank the Wurst Kitchen for the vision for the downtown, as well. It’s crazy to think we’ve had these two kinda big-picture projects come to the same Board meeting after years upon years of trying to find folks willing to invest. Here we have Mr. Cullen and his group and what they’ve accomplished, but look at what the Wurst Kitchen has accomplished, over 125 years in the Aurora area and the following they have looking to bring people to our downtown. Whether they are from Montgomery or Aurora, they’re coming to our downtown. I think our existing downtown businesses should all be excited about this!”