Politics & Government

Business Owner Seeks Approval to Build Banquet Center on South Main Street

The city's Landmarks Board has already given approval to demolish an addition to an old stone mill on the property.

An addition to a 150-year-old stone mill on South Main Street is expected to be demolished soon and a new banquet center built in its place, pending approval from the St. Charles City Council.

Sheri Steffans, owner of the Heart of St. Charles, is hoping to build the Old Stone Chapel and Banquet Center at 1106 South Main Street, which is currently the site of the mill.

Steffans has been working toward building the banquet center for the past year despite opposition from some South Main Street business owners who raised concerns that a banquet center would lead to more problems with late-night revelry downtown.

Find out what's happening in St. Charleswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Banquet centers were not a permitted use in the area until the city council in March changed the zoning codes to allow them in the Historic Commercial District.

In January, the Landmarks Board approved Steffans' application to demolish the upper addition to the Old Mill after two experts determined it was not historic.

Find out what's happening in St. Charleswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The lower stone portion of the building is considered historic, however, and would be renovated into a chapel.

Design plans for the 200-seat banquet room, which will be built as a new addition to the stone building were approved by the Landmarks Board in January.

The new addition will be built of distressed brick and a small amount of siding. The front will have a gabled pavilion that will serve as a porch. Parking will be available off of South Main Street and behind the property.

Landscaping would help camouflage some of the parking in the front of the building, however, some members of the Landmarks Board raised concerns that this was not consistent with the rest of Main Street.

"I'm still struggling with parking in the front," said Board Member Steve Martin. "It's inconsistent. It's not compatible with what's done anywhere else. It's more like a commercial shopping structure than an historic building."

On Monday, Steffans will present design plans to the Planning and Zoning Commission at the 6 p.m. meeting. The plans would also have to be approved by the City Council before work can proceed on the project.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from St. Charles