One building, many faces
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By JODI FUSON / Lincoln Journal Star
What do a hamburger joint, a sub sandwich shop, second-hand furniture store and church have in common?
They all used to call 850 N. 27th St. home.
Chubbyville, a drive-in that served large burgers, large bowls of soup and large coffees, opened in 1962 after businessman Claude Reed negotiated a land lease with Sheldon Kushner and built the restaurant.
McDonald’s opened across the street the same year, but the drive-in atmosphere at Chubbyville — carhops took orders and served food — drew plenty of people willing to pay more for a bigger burger.
In 1967, Chubbyville claimed a plan to put in a median on 27th Street would make it difficult for customers traveling south to get it. The burger joint was struggling, but still around in 1972, when manager Kerry Ernst switched to a fast-food format to compete with McDonald’s. Chubbyville closed in 1976.
A few years later, Super Subs opened in the space, but it folded within five years.
In 1984, Jan Gauger and her daughter Sarah turned it into One More Time Consignment Shop, a used furniture and home accessory business.
“It was unique,” Jan Gauger said of the 4,000-square-foot building.
It is divided into two big rooms with a small interconnecting room between. The Gaugers remodeled and put in a bay window along 27th Street for display.
“It was a good location,” Gauger said. “There was lots of parking and lots of traffic going by.”
The Gaugers sold the building in 2004 to Aram and Sirirat Ruenprom, owners of the Thai House Restaurant and Oriental Market four blocks south.
Immanuel Temple Apostolic Holiness Church rented from the Ruenproms from 2004 until about six months ago, and the building is waiting for its next incarnation.
Reach Jodi Fuson at 473-7211 or homeroom@journalstar.com.
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