DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) – The open sign is about to be turned back on at businesses across Central Illinois. The state is set to enter Phase 3 of Governor JB Pritzker’s five-phase Reopen Illinois plan on Friday.
"We are super excited to open up,” Kevin Dukeman, General Manager of Friendly Bar & Package said. The bar has spent the last several day getting ready to open after more than three months of only being able to provide curbside pickup service.
Under Phase 3, restaurants can open for outdoor dining and several other businesses can begin to return to normal as well. Each business is taking its own, individual steps to reopen.
"We are prepared to the best that we can be prepared to be," Dukeman said.
At Friendly, the doors will open at 5 a.m. Friday, but customers will see some changes starting with the number of guests being served at one time.
"No more groups of more than six allowed,” Dukeman said. “Six people at a table, six feet apart and we are all outdoors."
All of Friendly's tables have been moved outside. Customer will also only be allowed inside the building to use the restroom, but there are port-a-potties outside to limit the number of people going inside.
The establishment will also have extra hand sanitizer, and more hand washing stations setup and employees will have to wear face coverings.
“Just taking all the precautions we have been told to take,” Dukeman said.
Getting ready to open has taken lots of work for employees of Friendly. They have been preparing for days and know that things will not go perfect.
"Of course, there will be some punches along with it and we are going to take some, and we are going to figure out how to do this along with everybody else,” he said.
