Drop in a question of your very own BY CLICKING HERE or by emailing Kathy Reiser at [email protected] . Sign up for our Kathy's Mailbag newsletter here The latest on a downtown Champaign eyesore .
.. why those big, brick phone company buildings have few or no windows .
.. and a fun item on the pros and cons of some newer automobile finishes.
All in this week’s Mailbag. Today, it’s a Jimmy John’s sandwich shop. But townies of a certain vintage will always remember the former A-frame storefront at 1801 W.
Springfield as the Village Inn Pizza Parlor — “where pizza is always in good taste.” It was built in 1964-65 on land owned by Bob Shapland. The franchise’s original co-owners were Dale Holt, Dave Block and a silent partner, according to long-time manager Carl Lohmeyer.
Lohmeyer recalls starting there as a busboy at age 16, making just $1 per hour because the eatery was new and still working toward profitability. By the time he was 18, “everybody else left, so I got to be a nighttime shift manager.” He worked his way up and within a few years became the restaurant’s general manager.
Rudy James and the Village Inn Stompers performed as the house band for a time. When the pizza parlor’s owners turned down the band’s request for a pay raise, the members took their talents across town to practice at the Illini Union. They went on to become the Medicare 7, 8 or 9, according to Lohmeyer.
VIPP was busy after Illini games and was a favorite post-game spot f.
