St Nicholas Brewing Co. in DuQuoin is about to celebrate their 1st anniversary at the end of August, but they also have something else to celebrate.
They were one of 5 businesses in the state to win an "Edie" award form the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.
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It’s a hot summer day in July and the brew masters at St. Nicholas Brewing Company are preparing Raspberry Wheat Ale for their 1st anniversary next month.
This building was a hotel for over 120 years, until a decade ago.
“It was completely trashed on the inside”
Manager and co owner Abby Ancell had a lot of ups and downs over the past few years turning a condemned hotel into a restaurant and brewery.
“It really hadn’t been touched so it had to completely be gutted, that was kind of the first phase, the first year went really slow “
After about 5 years of hard work they were open for business.
We've made it more like a destination place for people to come and visit- Abby Ancell Manager/Co-Owner
Along with celebrating their first year of business they are also celebrating winng an “Edie” award from Illinois Economic Development Association and Illinois Chamber of Commerce.
EDIE stands for Economic Development in Illinois and is given to businesses that invest and build in Illinois creating jobs and growing their local economy.
Which is something that St. Nicholas did.
“ In a town of 6000 we created 38 jobs and we’ve made it more like a destination place for people to come and visit, people come from all over the state and Missouri and Indiana”
The St. Nicholas isn’t the only improvement in downtown DuQuoin recently.
The city has also been busy doing some developments around town.
“We’ve got new crosswalks, we’ve done the downtown as far as resurfacing our main street, we’ve got new sidewalks, all the way out to the fairgrounds on 51 have been repaved so things are looking up here in DuQuoin.”
Mayor Guy Alongi says that these improvements help them attract visitors that typically stay along the interstate.
“I think it’s a challenge for any community when your 20 miles away from the interstate that’s an obstacle that you’ve got to overcome but we’re trying to do what we can here in DuQuoin.”
Ancell says they are trying to make the St Nicholas more than a restaurant.
“It’s more of a destination spot rather than a get in get out, so they’ll come and a lot of people will go walk around and then come back.”
St. Nicholas Brewing Company was the only business south of Interstate 80 to win an “EDIE” award.
