A Look Back Through The Years On The Building At 123rd & LaGrange

It may be the end of an era for the historic building on the corner of 123rd Street and LaGrange. Representatives from Wu & Tran LLC announced plans at a community meeting held Thursday evening at the Palos Park Library to renovate and expand the existing building to approximately 17,300 square feet. The group currently operates a growing chain of six Japanese restaurants throughout the Chicagoland area, two of which are located in Orland Park.

Mock-up images and floor plans presented at the meeting were met by overwhelmingly negative reactions from residents on social media. Many complained that the proposed design does not fit the character of Palos Park and said that they would prefer to see a family owned farm-to-table restaurant or a steakhouse like Krapil's in Worth enter the village. The building has maintained virtually the same appearance since opening in the 1930s, and it will disappoint many to see that change.

Others are more than willing to embrace the change and see this as an opportunity for Palos Park to attract members of younger generations to the village and avoid the building remaining unoccupied for a long period of time, as is common in neighboring suburbs. "I am grateful that a business with a proven track record has chosen Palos Park for their next investment," Commissioner Daniel Polk noted. Another resident suggested that it's difficult to truly define the character of Palos Park, pointing to significant style differences between the municipal buildings on the 8900 block of West 123rd Street as an example.

The original building, which still stands today, opened in 1930 as the Palos Tavern. Prior to opening the Palos Tavern, owner Augusta Dunlap operated a concession stand on Cook County Forrest Preserve District land for several years. The Palos Tavern changed hands when it was purchased by Clem Lesicki, who owned and operated the establishment for more than twenty years. Clem's, as it was more commonly known as, featured a bar, a dining area and two gas pumps in the front of the building.

In 1959, Emmett Dice and Edward Puschak purchased the building from Lesicki and opened The Matterhorn. Due to the restaurant's growing popularity, the owners expanded the building in 1965 and then again nine years later in 1974.

In 1985, the Masterson family purchased the restaurant from the Dice family and opened Hackney's, which operated in Palos Park until January of 2019 when the owners announced the restaurant's sudden closure, citing costly maintenance issues as the primary reason for their reluctant decision.

Special thanks to the Palos Historical Society for the archived photographs and information. You can search for 'Palos Historical Society' on Facebook to join the group. An oral history of the building is available on that page. The Palos Park centennial history book is available for purchase at the Library, Village Hall, and Amazon. It's well worth the read.