A once-iconic downtown Valparaiso business may be getting a new life as a wine bar.
The former Buck’s Shoe Repair — with the second floor turret and the 1970s-style sign jutting toward the Lincolnway and Napoleon Street intersection — would get major renovations, based on plans owners Stephen and Jill Buck brought to two city meetings on Tuesday.
That would include removal of the sign, which doesn’t conform to current city standards, and more windows for the 1 Napoleon St. building.
The Bucks also received Plan Commission approval for a facade grant to improve the outside.
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Stephen Buck, an optometrist and Center Township Advisory Board member, said he sees no problem starting in this new business so late in life.
“So many of my friends say, ‘You’re in your 60s. Why do you want to do it?’ It’s a great spot, and I would absolutely kick myself if I rented it out to someone and they did this and it was a success,” he said.
He has gotten the help of Russ Adams, whose family owned the former Strongbow Inn, to consult on planning the restaurant that’d be known as Lincoln Flats.
That references an old name for the building, which has two apartments above it, Buck said.
Buck’s grandfather bought the building, which housed a grocery store, in 1948 and opened the shoe repair business, which Buck’s brother took over in the 1970s until he died about seven years ago.
After that, the family rented the business to a Merrillville concern until about a year ago, Buck said.
The Bucks plan to open in mid-summer, and City Planner Tyler Kent said the City Council’s vote on the facade grant may wait until next year when there is more money for it.
Kent isn’t sure how big of a grant the business could get for the work, but it may be eligible for $25,000 per side, the front on Napoleon and the side along Lincolnway, for $50,000
James D. Wolf Jr. is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.