Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Change has come to the Uniontown Main Street.
Last week’s closing of the Uniontown Deli marked the third business to close in recent months.
Green Parrot Ice Cream closed last year while, across the street on the corner, the Vineyard Vault shut down after a short run which began in the summer of 2012.
Green Parrot owner Cheryl Waller also runs Grandma Lela’s oatmeal, which she founded in 2012 after opening the Green Parrot.
Once she got to the point that she couldn’t keep the Green Parrot going, its neighbor, the Uniontown Deli, had to pay utilities for the whole building.
“The first domino, was Cheryl couldn’t make it,” said Dale Miller, President of the Uniontown Community Development Association. “The deli just couldn’t pick up the rent and utilities for the whole building. The property owner was not willing to adjust it… I had a feeling this whole thing might occur.”
The Uniontown Deli opened three years ago.
“It’s hard to run a business in a small town. You’ve got to attract customers from the highway and other communities,” Miller said.
While change has occurred for the negative to Uniontown’s Main Street – which is part of Highway 195 – there are positive changes too.
After Eleanor’s Saloon closed in 2011, which had been open since 1946, word came that the building’s new owners plan to reopen the place known for its hamburgers, beer and wine.
“So we have things going both directions,” Miller said.
In addition, down the street from the former Eleanor’s, Sage Baking is under new ownership.
In a building owned by the UCDA, the Sage Baking project of 2003 was the first of the UCDA, which led to the Artisans at the Dahmen Barn in 2006.
“Whenever a business turns over you don’t know for sure about the new management. But they’re doing a great job,” Miller said of Del and Amy Stillwaugh, who began last September.
Another development on Main Street is the UCDA’s remodeling of the Vollmer building, for which its restored storefront area will be available for a tenant this summer.
Overall, Miller said Uniontown’s momentum of recent years should keep up.
“I don’t think it’s gonna change the general direction but there is a transition going on,” he said. “People’s requirements in their lives change and it not only changes their life, it changes their business.”
Eleanor’s
Dennis (Mac) and Wanda McIntyre bought the former Eleanor’s space in January on a foreclosure sale, after owning the adjacent residential property for a year.
Soon they set to prepare the bar and restaurant to reopen under the same name, which was well-known around the area.
“We bought the building as named,” said Wanda McIntyre. “We paid naming fees, licensing fees, everything.”
To update and maintain the space, they tore out the entire kitchen and moved the bathrooms, then worked on rotted out flooring.
“We’re down to the subfloor,” McIntyre said.
They also cleaned up the horseshoe pit in the back. All the while, the couple’s goal was to not change the longtime Uniontown institution.
“To try to keep it the same as it ever was, but improved,” McIntyre said. “We haven’t taken out or taken down anything that didn’t have to be.”
There are more tasks this week before kitchen equipment is bought and installed.
“Tile for the bathrooms and paint,” McIntyre said. “We’re still working on the kitchen. It started as a 5x5x5, now it’s a 16x16.”
While they are at it, they have to observe new rules and regulations in effect since the old Eleanor’s came into being.
“It was so far from code, from before,” McIntyre said. “We’re only changing things that we absolutely have to by law.”
Once open, the McIntyres plan to expand Eleanor’s original offerings a little, adding liquor to go with the beer and wine selection and serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. The well-known hamburgers will be back.
Dennis and Wanda have talked to employees of the former Eleanor’s in order to replicate the original recipe. One former barmaid will likely work there again, Wanda said.
They aim to open this summer.
“We’re hoping July, maybe August,” she said, indicating that many family members in the area will participate.
“It’s gonna be a family thing,” she said. “Brothers, sisters, mom, nieces, nephews.”
New owners at Sage Baking
Del and Amy Stillwaugh bought Sage Baking last September, becoming the second owners, following founder Bud Tomlinson.
The two Uniontown residents each have a long background in food service, Amy as one of the original bar staff to open the Coeur D’Alene Resort in 1986, followed by years as a supervisor and trainer for Outback Steakhouse. Del, who began baking in the Navy, has managed several Safeway bakery operations.
Since taking over Sage Baking, they have added Wednesdays and Thursdays to the original Friday-Saturday business and have hired a decorator for cake orders and dessert items.
The menu has expanded as well, with the Stillwaughs adding new breakfast burritos and breakfast sandwiches.
In addition, they do some experimenting on other new offerings such as a traditional sweet-dough cinnamon roll.
“The core items are still here,” Del said, noting a current experiment with different pestos on focaccia breads.
“They’re getting better every time we try them,” he said.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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