Lake Forest McDonald's To Be Replaced By Bank

LAKE FOREST, IL — The quaint McDonald's location at 884 South Waukegan Road in Lake Forest will close up shop just short of its 20th anniversary, as a bank is getting set to move in, the Lake Forester reports.

Back when the McDonald's first sought to open in the location in the site of a former auto garage across from a strip mall, an anonymous propaganda campaign warned of "increased crime from drugs and robberies, destruction of public and private property, as well as graffiti from gangs and others not from Lake Forest," according to a 1995 Chicago Tribune report.

But residents appear to have changed their tune now that it looks like Chase Bank will be taking over the location. Chase has applied to open a bank with a drive-through teller at the site, and the Lake Forest Plan Commission may take up the application as soon as its August 9 meeting, Director of Community Development Cathy Czerniak told the Lake Forester.

The McDonald's franchise, owned by Willliam McEssy, is set to close down at the end of August. He told the Lake Forester a third party had approached the property owners, Frank Mariani of Lake Bluff and John Fiore of Lake Forest, and offered a "substantial increase" in rent which "would not be reasonable." McEssy said people have been calling him and stopping him on the street to ask why he is closing the franchise.

McEssy, a Lake Forest resident, has been operating McDonald’s franchises restaurants since 1980 and former operated more than 40 McDonald’s in Illinois and Wisconsin. While he told the paper he has sold off 20 restaurants over the past two years, he said he had no intention of selling his unique-looking hometown location, which opened in September 1997 after years of acrimonious debate and public comment.

There are no immediate plans to open a new McDonald's location in Lake Forest, according to a McDonald's spokesperson.

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Top photo: Lake Forest McDonald's | via Patch file