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EAST ALTON - Upgrades to East Gate Plaza continue with the recent announcement of the Elite Hockey Facility, the Blue Ice Creamery opening in 2019, the Vault Luxury Storage for Boats, RVs and more opening in November and the Jackpot Gaming Parlor opening in mid-December. Today, the East Gate Plaza owner said he is close to a major restaurant deal and it should be announced soon.
The East Gate Plaza work and construction changes are going to be quite visible in coming days, Kennedy said.
“We are calling what we are doing as two different buildings, one north and one south building. The north building is accessible from the street except from one little space. The face of it is done. We have refaced the building and put on new roofs. We have new store fronts and can build out spaces as they go. The south building has been gutted except for Dollar General. I am trying to get Dollar General to commit to one space over so they can have a new space. Their space has been the same for about 40 years. So far, I am unable to get them to commit to move, but we are working on that.”
It appears a 7,000-square-foot restaurant will open in February at East Gate Plaza. New owner Todd Kennedy is the finalizing the details of the restaurant.
Kennedy previously told Riverbender.com that he and his wife are optimistic about renovations.
“I want to make it look like somewhere you would see in Edwardsville or Glen Carbon,” he told Riverbender.com. “I want there to be lots of green space and trees and landscaping.”
“There are about 100 people who ride the Madison County Transit bus every day,” he said. “Maybe a business like a Starbucks or a Dunkin' Donuts would fit in well there. People on Facebook have been making a list of businesses they would like to see go in there like a Michael's or a JoAnne's Fabrics. As much as that would be great, companies like that have certain demographic requirements, and it's still East Alton we're dealing with. I'm not going to say we're going to be selective about what goes in there, but this is going to be a big investment, and we want to put the biggest draws we can get to the area.”
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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