By Blake Haas

NORMAL – Gov. Pritzker announced Sunday the closure of restaurants and bars until March 30; however, Normal Mayor Cris Koos said he would be ditching cooking at home and order carry out as much as possible.

“A lot of these small independent restaurants and bars that serve food, they add a lot of fabric social fabric to our community. They are very important, and they make our community unique,” Koos told WJBC’s Scott Miller. “I don’t want to see them go away; I want to support them as much as I can because they are very important to our community.”

Koos, along with State Representative Dan Brady and Bloomington Mayor Teri Renner, met with restaurant owners at Shooters Lounge Monday night. Koos added that owners are concerned with their business.

“A lot of these smaller owners that gathered from that are very concerned about the viability and long-term viability of their business. They are concerned,” Koos added. “They want to do the right thing; there is no question of that; they are just trying to figure out how they are going to get through this. Almost to a person, their concern was their hourly wage earners. They said ‘we have to protect these people, this is their lively hood.'”

Drive-thru, delivery, and curbside pickup options will still be allowed, according to Gov. Pritzker.

Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].