Correction added in headline and story

Things have come full circle at 1405 Fourth St.

The restaurant/bar has undergone several name changes and face-lifts over the past few years, but after the recent closing of AJ’s/Club 217, the original owners that opened Stu’s bar more than a quarter-century ago have returned to their roots to reopen the bar.

It was almost 26 years to the day since Ken Keating and Jim Severson bought the building, then known simply as E.L. Kracker’s, when Keating, along with wife and co-owner Nancy, along with Laura Severson, reopened the doors on Feb. 6, General Manager Katie Copenhaver said.

The Keatings and Severson opened the restaurant/bar in 1983 and ran the business for 16 years until they decided to sell the building and business on contract to their, then-general manager, Nancy Keating said.

E.L. Kracker’s/Stu’s stayed open under the same name for the next seven years until, after the contract was not fulfilled, the Keatings reclaimed ownership of the building, Keating said.

Over the course of the next three years the building chaanged form E.L. Kracker’s to Michael Domani’s restaurant. Then, one year later, it became AJ’s/Club 217, Copenhaver said.

After the closing, Keating and husband Ken made a decision.

“We thought ‘It’s just sitting empty, why not open it back up for a while,'” Keating said.

Thus, Stu’s was reborn.

Copenhaver said she hopes the business will offer some things not readily available to the public before.

She referred to the club atmosphere filled with dancing bodies and loud music downstairs and the stark contrast a simple stroll upstairs reveals. “The Loft,”as Keating calls it, is a much quieter, “chill” atmosphere that features pool tables, places to sit and a surprising lack of volume that one cannot help but notice downstairs.

“We have two different environments in one building,” Copenhaver said. “We are really hoping that we bring a diverse and different group (of patrons).”

And, Keating said, it just seemed natural to reopen with the same name.

“It seems everyone knows what Stu’s was,” Copenhaver said. “Even though it’s being played out differently this time, the name just sticks out. Hopefully, that’ll bring people back in. Maybe they can relive some old memories.”

While the name stays the same, the attitude of the business has changed.

“We want everyone to have a good time, we want the employees to have a good time,” she said. “No drama, no fights.”

Keating also added, with a chuckle, “no muscle.”

She said, while Stu’s, of course, has security, “If you look at our doors guys, they’re all pretty small.”

This is not due to a lack of muscular people with which to fill the positions, but more an indication of the selective process she went through when hiring this time around.

Out of more than 200 people to apply only 25 were hired, she said.

Keating wanted people with the right mind-set and the right attitude, not just people to physically intimidate people, she said.

“We are having a lot of fun (this time),” she said. “It’s just a great place to have fun, dance and talk to people.”

Although, Keating added with a laugh, she did have to lead one fellow out the door by his ear.

“We’re not going to have any (fighting) here,” she said.

David Thill can be reached at 581-7942 or at dmthill@eiu.edu.

Patrons of the newly re-opened Stu’s, now located where Club 217 and Aj’s restuarant were, enter the building on Saturday, Feb. 20. (Eric Hiltner/The Daily Eastern News)

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