Former Kaiser Lumber Co. office, 1004 Menomonie St.

The owner of one of the last remaining buildings from Eau Claire’s lumbering era wants to turn it into a restaurant and pub. Jim Rolbiecki, who owns the former Kaiser Lumber Co. office at 1004 Menomonie St., asked the Eau Claire Landmarks Commission to approve a rezoning request needed to transform the 1905 brick building into a pub. The commission was expected to vote on the plan on Monday, Dec. 7. Pending their approval, the city Plan Commission would act on the request on Dec. 14. According to plans submitted to the city, “the restaurant is intended to provide a unique dining experience” and “will fit within this redeveloped area and will serve the bicycle traffic, Carson Park visitors, pedestrian traffic” and users of the proposed Sonnentag Event and Recreation Complex, which UW-Eau Claire hopes to build just down Menomonie Street. The exterior of the building will be largely unchanged, except for the addition of a ramp and stairway for accessibility and the addition of 10 parking stalls. The building, which previously was a gift shop and most recently has contained apartments, is on both the state and national registries of historic buildings. Early this year, its owners proposed tearing it down, but the Landmarks Commission acted to stop such a permit in order to work with the owners to encourage another use – which, apparently, may soon mean you’ll be able to quaff beers in this century-old structure.