Old, vacant Plainfield church bought by local business owners for new family pizzeria

PLAINFIELD – A locally owned family pizza restaurant will occupy the old Universalist and St. Mary’s church in downtown Plainfield.

But salivating residents will need to wait at least a year after village trustees on Monday approved $185,000 sale of the long-vacant building at 24018 W. Lockport St. to Hopscotch and Vine owners Michael and Casey Vaughn, and dentist Rhiannon Holcombe and Vince Congine from The Loose Tooth Pediatric Dentistry.

Michael Vaughn, who owns several other downtown businesses, said it was late in the construction season this year to start work on the new pizzeria. So work will begin in the spring.

“We knew it was up for sale,” he said. “We’re putting in a new business. We know it’s going to be a family pizza [place].”

Long history

The old church has been a staple of the downtown area for more than a century.

It was constructed by the Universalist Church in 1868. It was purchased for $2,050, expanded and renamed St. Mary’s Immaculate Conception in 1912, according to the church’s history webpage.

After St. Mary’s moved in 1970 to its current location at 15629 S. Route 59 in Plainfield, the building went through several commercial uses, including Baci’s Italian Ristorante in 1990.

When Baci’s closed in 2010, the building started to quickly deteriorate. Two years later, in fear of losing the historic structure, the village bought the building for $108,000 after credits, according to a village memo about the sale.

Over the years, the village spent about $82,000 in renovations in addition to regular maintenance, Murphy said Monday, including mold mitigation, a new roof and restoration to the 1970s appearance.

“I truly believe that the village took the proper steps in purchasing it before it just fell apart,” Mayor Michael Collins said after trustees voted 5-1 in favor of the deal. “I think selling the building and having it properly restored to the original state ... is admirable for this board and the village of Plainfield.”

Buyer troubles

The village spent nearly five years trying to find buyers for the old church.

Some religious organizations expressed interest, but were turned away because the village wanted the property on the tax rolls.

The village almost struck a deal with a Chicago-based restaurateur in 2013, but the deal fell through on the restaurateur’s end, Garrigan said in an interview last year.

Murphy said having local buyers seems good for the future of the building.

“Probably having a local touch will help with the timeline of the work, and make it hometown,” Murphy said.

Michael Vaughn said that he and the new owners will try to preserve as much of the historic structure as possible.

“We already know that the stained glass windows are staying,” he said.

While stating support for the sale of the building, Trustee Edward O’Rourke voted against the sale because he felt there could have been more done to ensure the best price, including putting it on the village’s transparency website page.

However, several trustees said it was public knowledge that the building had been on sale for the past five years.

“I find that almost to be an insult to think that this board is not currently transparent on that particular issue,” Trustee Jim Racich said. “I felt that there was never a deceit.”