Jun. 7—URBANA — The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed yet another casualty — the restaurant Scott Glassman has operated in downtown Urbana for 19 years.

"I just decided to close up shop," he said of his restaurant, Crane Alley, which will mark its last day in business on June 18.

Glassman said the restaurant, which first opened in 2003, "never really recovered from COVID and all the forced closures."

He announced the closing on Facebook with a heavy heart and with thanks to employees and customers.

He's been operating on reduced days and hours, saying he couldn't find enough staff to get the restaurant back to normal hours.

"It's been such a rocky road," Glassman said. "COVID would settle down, then surge right back."

Ordering supplies has also been an issue.

"You can't get your normal products, or you can't get products at all," he said. "Throw all these things together, and it's a recipe for disaster."

Urbana Economic Development Coordinator Darius White said he hoped to meet with Glassman and the building owner, Mike Hosier, sometime this week to talk about other options for Crane Alley's space at 115 W. Main St.

The closing "definitely puts a dent into things," White said. "It leaves a hole."

Ideally, he said, city officials would love to replace Crane Alley with another restaurant.

Hosier said he learned about Glassman's plans to close a couple of weeks ago.

"Scott said he couldn't get help, and that's kind of a recurring theme with restaurants," he said.

Still, Hosier said he sees the Crane Alley location as a good opportunity for a new owner to come in and either take over Crane Alley or launch a new venture.

"They're very aggressively marketing downtown Urbana," he said of city officials.

"Hopefully, somebody buys into that energy and decides they want to carry on the name."

Glassman said he had been looking for somebody to take over Crane Alley, and he'd still be open to any offers.

Does he think someone else could make a go of a restaurant business there?

"I definitely do," he said.

"Someone other than myself. There's a reason it survived for 19 years. It's a great location. It's a unique building. It's a perfect spot."

Meanwhile, Crane Alley will continue being open at its current hours — 4 p.m. to midnight Wednesday through Sunday — with promotional specials through the last day, Glassman said.

The outpouring of condolences and kind words from people who have seen the closing announcement, he said, "it's nice to know."

"Hopefully, people will want to come out and have one last drink and some food and say goodbye to the place," Glassman said.