A former funeral home complex that was also used as the Chicago Public Library’s Beverly branch will be converted into a banquet hall and restaurant that employs 90 people under a redevelopment plan approved today by City Council.

The $1.8 million project by Barraco’s Pizza Inc. will rehabilitate an 8,200-square-foot building at 2125 W. 95th St. as a banquet hall and catering facility and a 2,800-square-foot building at 2105 W. 95th St. as a restaurant. The work will also include improvements to a 25-space parking lot that separates both structures. Owned by the city and valued at $267,000, the entire .61-acre site would be sold for $1.

As part of the agreement, Barraco’s will lease a nearby city-owned parking lot at 9448 S. Pleasant Ave. for $1 to accommodate overflow parking needs. Barraco’s will purchase the lot at the end of the 10-year lease period.

The complex served as the neighborhood library from 1981 to 2009, when a new, larger facility opened nearby. It has been vacant and deteriorating ever since.

Founded in 1980, the family-owned Barraco’s Pizza business has six locations in the City and southwest suburbs.

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