There is a sign in front of the building at W282 N7298 Main St. in Merton identifying it as the Steeplehouse Grill, even though that restaurant has never opened.
The property’s former owner, Don Shrader, in 2013 secured approvals from the village to renovate the building and operate a restaurant there. Tom Nelson, Merton’s village administrator, clerk and treasurer, said the building was undergoing renovations until 2014, when Shrader ran out of money.
Then in 2018, Shrader told the village that even though the property was now owned by Indiana-based WJH Real Estate LLC, he was still in control of it, Nelson said.
Village officials are now waiting to see what will come of a foreclosure of mortgage court case, which is preventing the owners from performing any more work on the property. A status conference on the case is scheduled for early June.
