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The Springfield News-Sun provides unmatched coverage of businesses in Clark and Champaign counties, including recent stories on a new restaurant opening on South Limestone Street.
O’Conner’s Irish Pub is moving to a new location, spending about $175,000 to renovate the former Perkins Restaurant at 2200 N. Limestone St., according to construction permits filed with the city this week.
The Irish restaurant opened at its current location at 2336 Northmoor Drive in Springfield about six years ago, said Tina Ramsey, who owns the restaurant with her family.
However, the business has since outgrown the space and its owners felt the former Perkins would be a better fit due to additional parking, and more seating and banquet space. The new location will also have more restrooms and a bigger bar area.
Customers should notice few differences in the layout of the new space, Ramsey said.
“It’s basically going to be a replica of what we have now, except bigger,” she said.
The new location will be about triple the size of the current O’Conner’s location, Ramsey said. It’s not yet clear when the move might be complete, but the goal is to open the new site by early next spring.
Perkins Family Restaurants closed its final location in Springfield earlier this past spring.
Along with a bar, O’Conner’s is also a full-service restaurant with about 25 employees. The restaurant also hosts parties and other large events. The new site will be beneficial because there is often an hour wait for customers on Friday nights, Ramsey said, and the restaurant has lost some business due to a lack of seating.
The new space will allow for about 10 to 12 additional tables.
“We’re a family establishment and we just need more room,” Ramsey said. “The city of Springfield has been behind us since the day we opened. It’s unbelievable the support we get from this town.”
All items currently at the Northmoor Drive location will be removed and the building will be stripped down to a shell for the next tenant, Ramsey said.
The move will also free up the neighborhood for parking. On busy nights, customers at the restaurant take over much of the parking in the neighborhood.
“We’ve kind of taken over the neighborhood,” Ramsey said. “Our neighborhood has been very good to us and hopefully we’ve been just as good to them. But sometimes even when I pull in for work I feel like we’ve just taken over the street and it’s time to let them get their houses back.”
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