"This is the exact type of venue our downtown has been looking for where families can go to and take their kids." Councilman Brad Helms (6th) said that in September. He wasn't talking about Durty Nellie's. He meant the brewery that will replace it.
His comment explains this October better than any single event on the calendar. In the space of 13 days, downtown Palatine loses a pub with roots going back to 1972. It also celebrates a street the Village rebuilt for outdoor tables and string lights, and it hosts an afternoon crawl that ends at 5 p.m. All three point the same way. Downtown is being rebuilt around daylight hours, patios and earlier closing times, and October is the first month you can see it from one block.
Thirteen days, three dates
- Sunday, Oct. 4: last call at Durty Nellie's. The owners announced on social media that the pub at 180-190 N. Smith St. will close for good at the end of business that day. Their post invites people to "stop in and reminisce and say goodbye to Jimmy," co-owner Jim Dolezal, along with the family and staff, with live music until the final night.
- Saturday, Oct. 10: Downtown Palatine Grand Re-Opening, 3 to 9 p.m., at Brockway and Slade. The Village is hosting it to mark the end of the summer street and infrastructure work.
- Saturday, Oct. 17: Roper Romp, 1 to 5 p.m. This is a 1970s-themed downtown bar crawl and fundraiser for People Helping People Palatine.
Durty Nellie's history needs one clarification. The Daily Herald dates the pub to 1972. Journal & Topics reports that Durty Nellie's has been in the current Smith Street building since 2003. That building went up as part of the Gateway Center Planned Development, which the Village approved in 2001 along with the village-owned parking deck and an office building.
What Slade Street was rebuilt to hold
The Oct. 10 party celebrates a specific design choice. On the block of Slade Street between Bothwell and Brockway, the Village set out to reconfigure parking, add room for outdoor cafe seating and more landscaping, and make the block easier to walk. Renderings show string lights on the lamp posts, outdoor seating, planter beds and decorative brick pavers.
The budget shows where the money went. Martam Construction won the construction contract at $3.2 million, about 8% under budget. Doland Engineering received $149,000 for construction engineering. The council also approved a separate $686,000 purchasing list for pergolas, streetlights, cafe lighting poles, cameras and fencing, part of a purchasing plan meant to avoid supply delays. Those three items add up to just over $4 million in approved spending, and about one dollar in six was set aside for the fixtures that make a block feel like a patio.
Most of the work is out of sight. The full project ran along Slade Street from Greeley Street east, then along Railroad Avenue to Plum Grove Road. It also covered the parking lot north of Slade between Brockway and the railroad tracks. Underground, crews replaced water mains, upgraded storm sewers and installed fiber optic lines, mostly east of Brockway. Above ground came resurfacing, sidewalk rebuilding, irrigation, roadway lighting and accent lighting.
The Oct. 10 event puts the new layout to use right away. You can carry alcoholic drinks and food out of local restaurants into a designated area that includes the Firefighters Memorial Parking Lot and parts of Slade and Brockway. Live music runs through the afternoon and evening in the Firefighters Memorial lot, and the Village suggests bringing a chair or blanket.
The summer it cost
Downtown gave up its biggest weekend to get here. In January, the Village canceled its three-day Street Fest for 2026. The area east of Brockway, including the Firefighters Memorial Parking Lot, streets and sidewalks, couldn't be used for summer events.
The replacement events show the same thinking as the new street. The Village chose two Sunday food truck events, set for June 7 and Aug. 16. One was north of Towne Square and the other was in the lot just north of Lamplighters, so businesses on both sides of the railroad tracks would get foot traffic. Village Manager Reid Ottesen said Sundays were chosen because they are usually quieter downtown and the Village wanted to bring more people and families in. Ottesen didn't hide what the trade-off would cost:
"It will be a disruptive summer, but the end result is going to be huge for all of them (downtown businesses)."
The finish date moved during planning. January plans called for the surface work to wrap up in September. By April, the Slade Street makeover was targeted for completion by Labor Day. The Village's Oct. 10 notice now calls the construction complete, and it is the first event planned to use the finished space.
What replaces a pub with roots in 1972
The Big Grove Brewery plan, which the Village Council approved on Sept. 8, takes the earlier-hours, outdoor-seating approach from Slade Street and applies it to downtown's biggest single property. The clearest way to see the change is to compare the building's old approvals with the new plan.
| Durty Nellie's approval | Big Grove plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Total seats | 517 | 492, indoor and outdoor |
| On-site parking lot | 41 spaces | 30 or 31 spaces |
| Hours | Longer hours allowed under original approval | 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. weeknights, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. weekends |
| Ground-floor patio | Existing exterior seating | New 9,000 sq. ft. patio with gas fire pits and a recreation area for families |
| Beer | Bar service | Five to seven beers brewed on site |
The parking lot loses spaces because the patio takes over part of it. To make up for that, customers can use 70 free ground-floor spaces in the village-owned parking deck next door for up to three hours. Another 1,244 deck spaces are available on evenings and weekends. Inside, the existing first-floor bar will be relocated and surrounded by restaurant seating next to a 1,400-square-foot kitchen and brewery. A family restroom will be added on the first floor, and the second floor becomes overflow seating and private event space. Pan American Bank and its drive-through stay in the same building.
Mike Wehr is listed as Big Grove's chief operating officer by the Daily Herald and as CEO by Journal & Topics. He told the council the business model is not "late night." He also suggested the Palatine beers could include a nod to the Durty Nellie's name. Big Grove currently has locations in Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska and plans to hire about 150 people in Palatine.
Council member Doug Myslinski called the handoff "a little bittersweet," because Durty Nellie's "has been a staple of our community for a long time."
The gap between last call and the first pour
The patio won't be ready for this fall. Wehr wants demolition to start as soon as possible so the brewery can open next summer. That is his goal. The firm deadline in the village agreement is Dec. 31, 2027.
That leaves the rebuilt Slade Street block to carry downtown through the colder months without the Smith Street anchor, and the fall calendar is mostly daytime events. The Roper Romp shows this most clearly. It starts at 1 p.m. at the Regal Beagle, brought to you by Madcats Lounge at 117 W. Slade St., and returns there for the raffle at 5 p.m. Tickets cost $20 in advance or $25 at the door and include a wristband for business specials and a raffle entry. The first 75 ticket buyers get swag bags. The Village calendar says more than 30 downtown locations are offering specials.
After that, the season continues mostly in daylight:
- Oct. 31, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Palatine Park District Halloween Party at the Community Center.
- Nov. 21, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: The Park District's first indoor Merry Makers Market at the Community Center.
- Nov. 21, 4 to 7 p.m.: The Village's annual Tree Lighting at Towne Square.
- Nov. 26, 8 to 10 a.m.: Turkey Trot & Sammy Scurry at Harper College.
Durty Nellie's closes at the end of business on Oct. 4. Six days later, the new Slade Street hosts its first party, from 3 to 9 p.m.
Downtown changes like this can affect what you weigh as a homeowner, landlord or buyer near Smith, Slade and Brockway, from parking near the deck to how far a home is from the new patio space. If you'd like to talk about what these changes mean for your property, Alka Patel is happy to walk through it with you. Let's Connect.
