Second Obed and Isaac’s to open 

Court and Karen Conn, long a Springfield institution when it comes to having fun, are taking their show on the road to Peoria, where the couple has purchased a church-turned-banquet-hall that will become the planet’s second Obed and Isaac’s.

The version in downtown Peoria promises to be bigger and better. In addition to a microbrewery, a bocce ball court and outdoor dining, all of which are featured at the Springfield location, the Obed and Isaac’s in Peoria will have a distillery that will produce rum, vodka and gin. Plans call for an opening in June.

There will be plenty of room in a 15,000-squarefoot building that was once a church. Built in 1888 for Presbyterians and designed by the same guy who drew the plans for the Chicago Water Tower, the structure boasts a 52-foot-high ceiling in what was once the sanctuary, loads of stonework, a tower and, of course, stained glass windows. Call it the abbey of ale. It has deteriorated somewhat over the years and was last used as a banquet hall.

“It cried for us to save it,” Karen Conn says. “When you see the inside, your jaw will drop.”

Conn says a volunteer on a Peoria economic development commission got in touch about two months ago after visiting Obed and Isaac’s: Would the Conns be interested in starting a microbrewery in Peoria? So it was that Conn and her husband, accompanied by the commission member and an assistant city manager, took a tour of the city’s historic warehouse district near the river, a “vibrant, mixeduse residential and commercial neighborhood,” as the city’s economic development department puts it on the department’s website.

“It just didn’t quite fit what we think was our business model,” Conn recalls. “That following week, Court and I did a recon mission. We went on a Sunday afternoon, downtown, when nothing’s open. It seemed like there was a lack of services. We thought it could be an opportunity for us. … We have a history of that. We’re outside-the-box thinkers, and we like to take on challenges.”

They were drawn to the building from the moment they saw it.

“At the time, we didn’t see a ‘for sale’ sign,” Conn recalls. “We thought, ‘That’s an iconic building. That looks cool.’” Shortly afterward, Conn saw the building listed on a commercial real estate website, and the deal closed in a matter of weeks.

“The building really found us,” Conn says.