![Imperial Palace, 3415 E. State St., will close for good at the end of June. The restaurant is pictured on Thursday, June 13, 2019. [KEN DECOSTER/RRSTAR.COM STAFF]](https://illinoisnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ghows-IR-8b37fefa-2611-07eb-e053-0100007f2fb5-6f33a21e.jpeg)
ROCKFORD — Now that plans for a culinary arts training program have shifted from the old Imperial Palace on East State Street to the former Mary’s Market Cafe & Bakery location at Edgebrook, it’s unclear what will happen next at the building that housed a Chinese restaurant for 27 years.
The city first announced plans for the Awaken 815 Culinary Program in May 2021. The free eight-week hospitality industry apprenticeship program for at-risk youth was going to operate from the former Imperial Palace site and receive a $300,000 loan from the E. State/ Alpine Tax Increment Financing Redevelopment Fund with $100,000 in loan forgiveness.
According to Rockford’s community and economic development director Karl Franzen, a lease deal between the foundation and the owners of Imperial Palace collapsed.
“They never ended up finalizing the lease agreement,” Franzen said. “I don’t know the intimate details of why it fell apart but, at the end of the day, they didn’t have a legal contract, and they moved away from that site, so the agreement the City Council had was no longer valid.”
More:Edgebrook Shopping Center lands new tenant for former Mary’s Market space in Rockford
Imperial Palace closed in 2019. The vacant building at 3415 E. State St. is owned by Bill and Lai Nhi Mui Nguyen. The Register Star was unable to find a phone number associated with the Nguyens or the property.
The property’s fair market value is $415,320, according to the Winnebago County Treasurer’s Office.
“I haven’t heard of even a hint of anything happening there, which is unfortunate,” said Paula Olson, executive director of the Miracle Mile Business District, which includes the former restaurant. “It would sure be nice to get something in there, but, from what I understand, the building needs a lot of maintenance. … That’s the next challenge. Nobody wants to take that on, either.”
Under the original agreement, the city was going to provide the Awaken Foundation with a $300,000 loan from the E. State/Alpine TIF district and forgive $50,000 once renovations were complete and forgive another $50,000 after 100 students completed the program.
Frazen said the redevelopment agreement was site specific, and since the program has moved, the agreement is “null and void.”
Awaken Foundation L3C, a US Department of Labor-registered culinary arts and hospitality apprenticeship program that was founded in 2016, signed an agreement on Aug. 31 to lease the former Mary’s Market space at 1659 N. Alpine Road.
The foundation’s founder, Jurea Crudup, said a cafe-style restaurant called Sonny’s Place will share space with a culinary arts apprenticeship program beginning in November.
It’s unclear whether the organization is asking for the city’s help financially at the Edgebrook space.
“These are questions that I don’t want to answer at this point,” Crudup said.
As for the city of Rockford?
“We don’t talk about any active negotiations, whether there are some or (there) aren’t some,” Franzen said. “I can tell you that City Council has not approved any funding, but we would not make any comment relative to any discussions.”
Ken DeCoster covers business news and features. Contact him at 815-987-1391, [email protected] or @DeCosterKen.
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