Durty Nellie’s owner Jim Dolezal talks about the future of the Palatine bar, which he said is going back to its roots with plans for a smaller location inside a proposed six-story apartment building. (John Starks | Staff Photographer)
Durty Nellie’s isn’t quite ready to go gentle into that good night.
Plans to tear down the downtown Palatine nightspot’s longtime home to make way for a new, six-story building is a chance to bring the establishment back to its Irish pub roots, said Jim Dolezal, who co-owns the business with brother Mark.
“We’ve been here so long,” he said. “I’m not ready to call it a day yet.”
Last month, the Dolezals announced a proposal to raze the venue at 180 N. Smith St. — Durty Nellie’s home since 2003 — and replace it with a six-story, 85-unit apartment building.
The new building would include ground-floor space for businesses, including 3,500 square feet for a new Durty Nellie’s. That’s far less than a quarter of the 18,000 square feet it currently occupies. Plans also are in the works for a rooftop element to the new pub.
The project is awaiting final approval from the village of Palatine, but Jim Dolezal sees it as an opportunity to “get back to the roots, kind of where Nellie’s got its start in the old place right down the street.”
That old place is the original Nellie’s, which opened on St. Patrick’s Day 1972 at 55 N. Bothwell St., a site that previously was home to a stable, a speak-easy, a bowling alley and an ice cream parlor.
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Related: “Durty Nellie’s owners plan to tear down iconic nightspot in downtown Palatine”
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