The "sidewalk supervisors" at the Old Man River Brewery„that's what Marci Strutt playfully calls the local folks who have been watching the construction project„will soon be out of a job. Work on the renovation of the Diamond Jo Reynolds building in McGregor is almost complete.

The 104-seat restaurant and brewery complex is slated to open in late December. When the doors swing open it will be the fulfillment of a four-year project and a lifelong dream of two former McGregor residents, Dave and Marci Strutt.

"Our vision was always to do something good for the town," Dave said.

The couple, who both grew up in McGregor but live in Des Moines, have many fond memories and close ties to the community.

They hit upon the idea of opening a brew pub in order to create a unique business to stimulate the local economy and a social gathering place for the community. In late 2003, they began to consider various locations in town that might be create a suitable home for the business. The Diamond Jo Reynolds building, was one intriguing possibility.

"We kind of landed on this oneƒits one of the most unique in town," Marci said. The location had the amount of space they were looking for both within the building and on the adjoining land. They knew they would need extra space to have room for the brewery. Plus, the Strutts liked the idea of saving a very historic building.

The years of planning and months of construction are evident inside the Diamond Jo. The first floor of the building, which was most recently occupied by two separate shop spaces, originally had four separate rooms, a large brick vault in the middle of the space, and a staircase leading to upstairs apartments. This floor has been completely transformed It is now one large, open room which will be used for the bar and for the restaurant dining space. A large deck is being added to the back of the building to provide outside dining during the warmer seasons.

TCI of La Crosse, Wis., is the contractor on the job.

Working in an historic structure has presented some challenges. One difficulty they encountered was the removal of the vault. The vault was used by the original owner of the building, Diamond Jo Reynolds, who operated a freight and passenger steamboat line. At first the Strutts thought they could leave the vault in place as an interesting remnant of the building's past.

But it became clear that it just took up too much space. The workmen who took it out had a big job as it was constructed of four layers of brick that was up to four and one-half feet thick.

This summer's flash flooding was also a problem. Five feet of water stood in the building's basement, and construction equipment was also flooded. Consequently, the Strutts decided that they would leave the basement empty and planned for all of their storage needs in the new building.

They also uncovered evidence of a previous fire which had destroyed the adjacent building and affected the Diamond Jo. Evidence of the flames can still be seen on blackened ceiling beams which remain exposed in the dining room. Also, almost half of the first floor structural timbers were affected by the fire and had to be replaced.

Marci has handled the decision making and troubleshooting for the interior design of the dining room decor. She sees it as a marriage of the modern and the historic. The dining room will feature traditional wooden tables and a beautiful oak bar, but also modern features such as exposed brick and beams and aluminum window trim. A bust of Diamond Jo Reynolds will greet diners in the entryway.

To see the realization of their plan in bricks and mortar has been a pretty exciting process for everyone involved. "It's just amazing how the thing has developed from a hole in the ground," said Moser.

"It's been a real team effort," Marci said.

Since they have no background in the restaurant business, the Strutts needed people with expertise in the food and brewing. Stacy Moser, a graduate of Kirkwood Community College Culinary Program and an experienced cook from Johnson's Restaurant in Elkader, joined the team, as did John Hannafan, a brewer from Clinton, Iowa.

Moser, who will be the general manager, has been the go-to man who has helped design the kitchen and develop the menu.

The Strutts found John Hannafan after talking with regional microbrewers around the Des Moines area. At first Hannafan was hired only to help purchase and set up a brewing system. But Dave explained that as he got involved with the project, Hannafan expressed interest in becoming brewmaster for Old Man River, and they were happy to have him.

Dave and Marci see their new business first and foremost as a restaurant. They're calling their menu "upscale casual." What that means is you can show up in your jeans and still enjoy a great meal that will include gourmet details like wild and imported mushrooms and seafood flown in from the coast twice weekly. Burgers, pasta, salads and steaks and pizza will round out the menu. Executive chef Kendall Clark, most recently of Pepper Sprout in Dubuque, will head up an anticipated staff of 20.

Those anxious to sample one of Old Man River's house brews will have to be patient. It takes time to brew beer„for it to ferment and age. Other regional microbrews will be served until the first of four signature house beers are ready sometime in March. When spring comes and the river shakes off its coat of ice, the Strutts plan to host their grand opening with their first batch of beer.

At its Nov. 20 meeting, Prairie du Chien Common Council adopted a new winter parking ordinance to facilitate street plowing and cleaning and tabled passage of a rezoning ordinance.

With four council members absent, the ordinance passed on a vote of 5-3, with council members Gilbert, Hackett and Boylen casting dissenting votes.

The alternate side parking ordinance has two major changes from the previous one. The previous ordinance stipulated that beginning Nov. 15, alternate side parking commence on odd sides of the street on odd numbered dates, and on even sides on even numbered days for the time periods of 12:01 a.m. to 6 a.m.

The new ordinance requires alternate side parking only in the event of a weather event forecast broadcast by WQPC in Prairie du Chien predicting freezing rain, sleet, ice or snow accumulation to the extent of two inches or more.

The parking requirement would remain in effect until noon rather than 6 a.m.The new ordinance further stipulates that the alternate side parking begin at 12:01 on the day following the commencement of the weather event and end 48 hours after the conclusion of the weather event.

Discussion before the vote included how and when residents would listen to the forecast, whether adding six hours to the parking limitation would inconvenience school and day care staffs and whether the new ordinance would, indeed, cause less inconvenience for residents.

Council member Nate Gilberts worried that extending the parking ban until noon would cause problems for people who report to work early, before parking lots are plowed.

Mark Oehler addressed council with his concern that a weather forecast generated at 6 a.m. could change greatly during the day, and a prediction of clear skies might easily change to snow later in the day.

Addressing a question of giving parking exemptions to such organizations as school and day cares, attorney Tom Peterson said the problem would be where to cut off the exemptions.

In relating the origin of the new ordinance, Mayor Cheryl Mader said council members were hearing complaints about switching parking sides every day when it rarely snows.

Council member Dave Hemmer suggested that the street department be asked to plow areas such as schools and day cares first, but council member Frank Pintz pointed out that the police department has to enforce the laws, and that a person could get ticketed for parking in a certain spot even if it has already been plowed.

Council member Joe Ruskey said people needed to remember that the ordinance is intended to make things more convenient for residents, and that people concerned about missing the weather reports can simply continue alternate side parking every night as they did before.

Council member Kathleen Hein said she would like to try it for a year to see if it helps.

Council also held a public hearing on an application from the Dillman Family Limited Partnership to rezone two lots at 217 and 215 N. Marquette Road from B-2, Highway Commercial, to B-1, Central Business.

Dean Achenbach, who owns property directly south of the lots, addressed council and asked for an explanation of the difference between B-1 and B-2.

B-2 stipulates a front building setback of 25 feet and side setbacks of 10 feet, with a maximum of 50 percent lot coverage by a building.

B-1 has no front or side setbacks and no maximum lot coverage regulations.

Achenbach requested that action be postponed until he had a chance to talk to the Dillmans and find out what plans they had for the lots.

Passage of the rezoning ordinance was tabled and the hearing continued until the December 4 meeting.