The Huntley Farmside

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The HimtleY Famiside
Thursday, September 2,1999
A Press Publications newspaper ar serving the Huntley community
Volume 39, Issue 35
Waiting for the bell
Tuesday, Aug. 24, was the first day of school for afternoon kindergartners at North Elementary School In Huntley. Students, along with teachers aides and a student's mother and little brother and sister, patiently wait for their teacher to greet them and taite them to their classroom. For more photos, see Page 2.
Residents and groups make use of new Huntley Public Library
Tim Anderson
Press Publications
When Chamber of Com¬ merce officials began planning for Wednesday's meeting on Route 47 and Main Street construction, they knew their regular meeting place wouldn't hold the anticipated crowd.
But chamber officials also knew they could tum to the community's new ace in the hole: the Huntley Public Li¬ brary.
"It has just tbe space we need for the meeting," Hunt¬ ley Area Chamber of Com¬ merce President Jan Hoeft said one day before the event, adding that the new library's meeting room may eventually
be used permanently by the local business group.
This is just one of the many ways that the community has used the new library, which opened nearly a month ago.
"People have been very en¬ thusiastic," said Virginia Maravilla, executive director of the Huntley Public Library. "We were busiest the first week it opened. And we have been more busy than we ever were at the old building."
The community meeting room, which still is not com¬ pletely finished, has been used for meetings by the Himtley Library Board and AMCORE Bank. It also has housed the library's various children's programs, which include "Story Times for Preschool¬ ers," "Family Story Time" and
various craft programs.
Maravilla said the additional space in the building has al¬ lowed library officials to in¬ crease programs for the pub¬ Uc.
Other features at the library include easier access to CDs and the addition of Video cas¬ settes for patrons to check out.
"We almost ran out of vid¬ eos the first week," Maravilla said about the popularity of the library's newest type of" materials in circulation.
The number of computers with Internet access, CD- ROMs and children's games has also increased substanti¬ ally at the new building.
"We  expect  them  to  get
quite a bit of use once school ¦   LIBRARY, Page 2
Village approves Eagle Inn plans
Restaurant to open by March
Tim Anderson
Press Publications
Owners of the Eagle Iim say they hope to have their planned upscale restaurant and antique shop open to the public by March.
The Village Board approved plans Aug. 26 for the 200-seat restaurant, which wiU be built on 67,000 square feet of prop¬ erty at Route 47 and Freeman Road.
"It's going to be a country- style restaurant that I think people here really will enjoy," Village President James Dhamer said.
Plans call for the restaurant to be built in the pattern of a 19th-centiuy, red brick farm¬ house with landscaped and fenced gardens.
Brian Jason, who is a co- owner of the Eagle Iim and will be the restaurant's exec¬ utive chef, said work at the site should begin within the next few weeks.
"With Del Webb coming to Huntley, we thought it was a perfect opportunity for us to bring this kmd of restaurant to the area," Jason said. "We want it to be different than everything around here. It's about as far away from a chain [restaurant] that you can get."
Owners of the Eagle Inn are the Jason family and two other area families: the Brinckman and Lucks fami¬ lies. Donald Brinckman is the founder and chief executive officer of Safety-Kleen Corp. The Jason family owns Floyd's Restaurant in Car¬ pentersville.
Dhamer said the proven track record of Floyd's as a successful business made the Eagle Inn proposal attractive to village officials.
Jason said the menu at the
'With Del Webb
coming to
Huntley, we
thought it was a
perfect
opportunity for us
to bring this kind
of restaurant to
the area. We want
it to be different
than everything
around here. It's
about as far away
from a chain
[restaurant] that
you can get."
Brian Jason
co-owner of the Eagle Inn
Eagle Irm will be "creative and approachable" and will be dominated by traditional American cuisine.
The antique shop will fea¬ ture fine china, art and other home-decorating accessories, along with antique jewelry, said Sonia Lucks, who will head that part of the business.
"Our shop will be constantly changing with the turnover in antique inventory, and we think it will be fun to come back time and time again to shop and dine," Lucks said.
The 7,000-square-foot build¬ ing will combine 1850s Gothic and Classic Revival styles with the Italianate style. Fea¬ tures inside will include a Victorian-style bar in the lounge area, a two-story main dining room, a large antique fireplace and a private dining room with a book-lined li¬ brary.