By Monty Siekerman 

From the Ada Icon - That's David "Rico" Rodriguez waving from the cupola of Van's Corner at State Route 235 and Old Route 30 located north of Ada.

He's showing all Icon readers the major work that has been done on the building in recent weeks to turn the structure into a family restaurant called Cherico's.

Several historical parts of the building have been retained, such as the pine floor and cupola.

The photo shows an expanded dining area with the roofline extended on three sides for open air-dining.

In addition, the second floor will be turned into an eating area.

The cupola has been rebuilt for historical purposes. It once housed the bell for the Owlsburg School, later a cross for a church. The cross was taken down when it became a bar because the owners thought that customers would hesitate to patronize a bar with a cross on top of it.

An Icon story a month ago proved popular with 6,000 views in the first 24 hours. We received several comments including this remembrance from Bill Robinson:

"The Owlsburg was not there that long. It was known as Van's and or Van's Corner for years. It was the place for ONU students. Irvin Vandemark, the Mayor of Ada, owned it. His brother Pete ran it. Ada had 3.2 beer only, Van's had 6.0. 

There are many, many stories about Van's. Faculty also went to Van's so they would be out of town. A couple of trucks ran into the building.  He didn't have a phone. Many tourists stopped to phone. Pete had a secret phone across the road in a dilapidated old garage. Many good times at Van's for probably close to 50 years."

If you have an interesting remembrance, let us know at [email protected]