Springfield’s iconic Ice Deli has new owners and a new look.
“We took it over at the beginning of the year,” said Eric Creviston, who also owns Springfield Monument and several related businesses in Rochester, Petersburg and Havana. “The Ray family owned it previously, but their kids were all grown up and they were ready to move on.”
Creviston said he and his family were frequent customers of Ice Deli, 2701 W. Lawrence Ave., and he thought it would be a good place for his twin 17-year-old daughters to work.
“We go up there all the time, so I had approached them last summer and asked if they would ever consider selling. We used to own one years ago, over on Sangamon Avenue,” he said.
Creviston and his business partner, Brian Mitchell, made arrangements to purchase the business and said artist Ronnie Kaszuk contacted them shortly afterwards. “He had done the original artwork a number of years ago. When he reached out to us, we gave him creative license to redo the artwork,” Creviston said.
Ice Deli official opened for the season May 10, and
Creviston said despite the new ownership and new look, returning customers will
see many familiar faces. “We were able to bring back a lot of the teens who
have worked there over the past summers. Some of them have been there four,
five years now.”
Creviston plans to keep Ice Deli operating through mid- to
late August, perhaps longer. “Last year, it was pretty warm even into September,”
he said.
