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Christopher Maier, a Pennsylvania native, came to Champaign-Urbana five years ago to earn an MFA in creative writing—and he's still here. He's written and edited for magazines, newspapers, trade publications, university presses, literary journals, corporate clients, and family holiday newsletters. At the University of Illinois, he's taught creative writing and composition, and was a founder of the literary/arts magazine Ninth Letter. He appreciates corn fields, but also misses the mountains.
After 15 years as one of Champaign’s prominent sports bars and billiards joints, Jillian’s has closed.
Employees got word on Sunday and by the end of the day Jillian’s had shut its doors for good. The “Champaign” link on the corporate website now leads to a blank page.
Jillian’s — a 20,000-square-foot space featuring pool tables, games and large TVs — was located at 1201 S. Neil Street, west of Memorial Stadium.
Though Jillian’s saw heavy traffic before and after University of Illinois sporting events and on Sundays during the NFL season, the flow of customers had slowed in recent years.
According to Tyler Warfield, president of JBC Entertainment, the Louisville, Ky.-based company that owns and operates the Jillian’s franchise, location became a detriment to Jillian’s. As downtown Champaign has continued to grow and absorb a greater portion of the local nightlife, bars on the fringes have tended to suffer.
Age didn’t help, either. “We are very old, and we show our age quite a bit,” says Warfield. “To stay relevant, we’d need to really invest significantly.” One example, he says, is the mishmash of outdated TVs that Jillian’s would have to replace.
Despite the challenges that Jillian’s faced, the corporate offices were committed to exploring all possible options in order to keep the doors open. These options included significant updates to the current setup and the addition of new services, such as a banquet hall on the second floor. At the end of the day, though, none of the alternatives pointed toward financial stability, and this led to the recent decision to close the establishment.
“Shutting down hasn’t been in the works for a long time at all,” says Warfield.
Jillian’s has enjoyed its run in Champaign, Warfield says.
“We would absolutely look at other opportunities in the area. We love the area.”
For now, though, the sports fans and pool sharks that have regularly hunkered down at Jillian’s will have to find new venues to haunt. Fortunately for pool players and sports junkies alike, Champaign-Urbana has no short supply of places to grab a drink, watch a game and shoot some stick.
Comments (2)
Friday, May 2, 2008 2:21 PM
Meh. Some of the worst service (and food) I've had in this town came at Jillian's. And the TVs were definitely out of date. Still, it's a nice space.
Saturday, May 3, 2008 9:54 AM
I agree. It seems like everytime I give them a chance, they let me down in the service.
They had about the best arcade in town for a while though.