Packinghouse Dining Restaurant

The building sat empty until 1978 when it was purchased by Jay & Mary Matson to be converted to a restaurant, the Packinghouse Dining Company, which opened in 1979. The restaurant served as a successful example of adaptive reuse, bringing an outdated historic building to a new life. It was recognized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in its “Main Street” program as a role model. Although such conversions are commonplace today, in the seventies this was a news feature. The Packinghouse received national attention with articles in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, etc. Because the original building was a large refrigerated walk-in cooler, it was lined with cork insulation on walls, ceiling and floors. This element served to make the building very energy efficient in terms of heating and cooling.