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• Great Impasta closing after 25 years of business

Business is booming in downtown Champaign. With the current construction of M2 (the nine story building to house condos, offices, and retail space) on the corner of Neil St. and Church St., the influx of new restaurants, and the recent addition of free wireless Internet, the downtown area is bringing in more business and becoming more profitable than ever. Not every establishment is enjoying the attention though. The Great Impasta, which sits beneath the shadows of the M2 construction at 114 W. Church St. won’t be reflecting this increase in business and development. At the beginning of March, Harold Allston, owner of The Great Impasta announced he would be selling the building and closing the Impasta’s doors Dec. 31st.

Allston hadn’t been planning on selling The Great Impasta so soon, but the idea was never far from his thoughts; he just thought he wouldn’t be seriously looking into a sale for several more years.

“The offer came in and it was the offer I expected to get in five or ten years,” Allston said.

“There’s been a lot of pressure,” added Nate Lynn, a manager at Impasta. “Downtown’s gotten so competitive, oversaturated in a way, so it’s not as easy to make money,” he said.

The Great Impasta, which has been in business for 25 years, has held its own though, surviving both relocation and the death of its founder Piero Faraci, to become a staple of the downtown area. Many of its interior features, including the cast-iron work, decorative tiling, and paintings come from local artisans. Impasta even has a wall that serves as a rotating gallery for local talent.

“We’ve been really influenced by local artists, so we really wanted to celebrate [them] and display their work,” Allston said.

The offer to buy, which came from First Bank of Paris, would have been hard for any business to pass up, but that hasn’t made employees or patrons anymore accepting of the news.

“A bank [coming in] doesn’t do anything for me,” said Dom Heitler, a pianist who’s played every Wednesday at The Great Impasta for the last four or five years. “It’s just another bank. Maybe I’ll play for the bank?” Heitler proposed with a laugh. At age 71, and legally blind, Heitler’s had quite a career, with his music that took him from New York hotels to Hollywood clubs, but The Great Impasta has been special to him.

“It’s a nice music venue,” he said. “It’s been here so long and I’ve enjoyed every time I’ve come here.”

Heitler’s not alone in wishing The Great Impasta would stay open. Lynn has been in the restaurant business for 18 years, and in the five years he’s worked at The Great Impasta, he’s never seen a more loyal clientele. Some people are known for coming in twice a week, every week, even going so far as to sit at the same tables and order the same meals.

“There’s just so many regulars,” Lynn said. And they’re not taking the news well. According to Lynn, not a day goes by where some customer doesn’t comment on the December closing. “[They] come in rushing, saying, ‘I’ve heard some really bad news!’ There’s a real sense of concern in their eyes, a lot of people are really attached to this place.”

So is The Great Impasta closed for good, come Dec. 31st?

“That is the $64,000 question there,” Allston said. “I don’t think there’s been a guest that comes through the door that doesn’t wish I’d reopen somewhere,” he said.

While Allston is considering the idea, he wants a chance to decide that option for himself. Having more time to spend with Nancy, his wife of 18 years and their two children is a big draw for him, since he tends to be preoccupied with the restaurant even when he’s not working.

“[More family time], that’s what we’re going for,” she said. “Then Harold will be able to explore all of his possibilities.”

“The bottom line is he got such a good offer, that he can’t pass it up,” Lynn said. “It’s still a drag, but I guess life goes on. But I’ll miss it.”