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player ready...A Hinsdale developer is hoping to include a Dunkin’/Baskin-Robbins with a drive-thru as part of a commercial project on the site of the former Tracy’s Tavern, 401 E. 55th St., in Clarendon Hills.
The Dunkin’/Baskin-Robbins would account for about 1,000 square feet of the 6,000 square feet development by KrohVan, said Jonathan Mendel, Clarendon Hills’ community development director.
While no special permission is required for the Dunkin’/Baskin-Robbins structure, the requested drive-thru needs to go through a review and get approval. The village’s Zoning Board of Appeals/Plan Commission is tentatively scheduled to review and discuss the drive-thru request March 17.
“The village wants to see the site redeveloped. The drive-thru is about managing traffic impact,” Mendel said.
Village President Len Austin said if the intersection outside the property can be reconfigured, he views it as an opportunity to improve vehicle safety, and with the installation of a crosswalk, an opportunity to improve pedestrian safety.
Austin said he has no issue with having Dunkin’ or Baskin-Robbins joining the Clarendon Hills business community on 55th Street.
“I really don’t feel they are competing with any other businesses in our downtown district,” he said. “Customers using these businesses will be primarily traffic traveling on 55th Street.”
There was no response to several phone messages left at KrohVan.
Tracy’s Taverns closed in 2020, and the property had been for sale since the fall of 2018.
The business was operated during its five final years by siblings Hunt and Darby Tracy, who took over when their parents, Jack and Lucy, retired.
The Tracy siblings said in early 2019 that they decided to see if anyone was interested in purchasing the business and property because their lives had gone in different directions.
Tracy’s history goes back to 1935, when it was known as Nickelodeon. From 1950 to 1985 it was Al and Bill’s, before Jack and Lucy Tracy took over.
Aside from a 2008 Illinois law that took smoking out of the tavern, probably the biggest change made at Tracy’s after opening in 1985 was the return of food to the menu.
Jack Tracy said the kitchen was part of the building, but hadn’t been used in more than 20 years when he and his wife opened their business.
Jack and Lucy Tracy attempted to bring video gaming to their business in 2012, but the village board at the time voted against allowing it in Clarendon Hills.
Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.