Farewell, Firefly. We hardly knew ye.

December 15th, 2008 at 12:14pm Sean Driscoll

For nearly 70 years, the Mayflower was a fine-dining staple on North Second Street in Loves Park. Since the original Mayflower closed in January 1999, several restaurant groups have tried and failed to build a succesful business in the still-stylish building. The latest effort, the Firefly, closed earlier this month and the building is back up for lease.

Here’s the timeline of the Mayflower evolution:

• The Mayflower was open from the early 1930s until January 1999
• Reopened Nov. 1, 1999, by Todd LaMere as LaMere’s Mayflower.
• Todd LaMere changed the name to LaMere’s North in October of 2000 but closed abruptly in May 2001.
• In May 2002, the owner of the Morning Glory Restaurant reopens the Mayflower under its historic name.
• Sometime between 2002 and 2005 there was The  Cave, a NASCAR-themed restaurant that escaped Register Star attention.
• In 2005, it reopened as JRichard’s Mayflower and closed in July 2007.
• This January, the Nuttall family bought the building – all the other attempts were leasing the building – with a menu leaning toward healthy eating.

Entry Filed under: closings