MOUNT VERNON — The well-known local nightclub Banana Joe’s closed its doors this week. According to signs outside the building, a new business called McGraw’s will take its place.
The owner of the building at 100 W. High St. was unavailable for comment. The signs read “thanks for the memories” and named the first of January as Banana Joe’s last day. This week, contractors were busy putting up wood panels on the outside of the building.
In other news, a local Limited Liability Company recently took over the old Lamb Glass building at 350 Pittsburgh Ave.
DMS Warehousing LLC of Mount Vernon purchased the building and the 34-acre property on which it stands. Spokeswoman Mary Wiard said Celmore Plastics Ltd., DMS’s sister company, is using the building. Celmore Plastics is itself a partnership between SBC Recycling of Centerburg and Waste Alternatives of Mount Vernon.
Wiard said both SBC Recycling and Waste Alternatives had operated within the roughly 300,000-square-foot building before forming a partnership. The partnership buys and sells recyclable plastic materials, mainly from industrial but also agricultural sources.
The partnership uses the building for shipping and warehouse space, according to Wiard. About two-thirds of the building is still available for warehouse space. She said the partnership will be upgrading portions of the building in need of repair and renovation, particularly some of the older parts of the building that dates back to the early part of the 20th century.
Wiard added that the partnership wants to work with the Clinton Township Trustees and the local Little League baseball association about the continued, short-term use of Lamb Park, which is located on the property. Presently there are no other plans for the park. There is room for expansion on the property, and the partnership does plan to do some long-term planning for the future of the property, including the park ground. She said members of the partnership had some liability concerns regarding the park, but does not want to be the Grinch who stole the baseball park.