The Dairy Queen restaurant near the NIU’s East Lagoon soon will be replaced by a new sit-down Tom and Jerry’s restaurant.

John Pappas, owner of Tom and Jerry’s, 185 W. Lincoln Hwy., said he plans to build a new Tom and Jerry’s on the Dairy Queen property.

Pappas said he bought the Dairy Queen property, 215 W. Lincoln Hwy., about four months ago. He said he will demolish the 45-year-old Dairy Queen building in a couple of months and will start building a new brick building on the property.

Pappas said the old Tom and Jerry’s building still will stand because the restaurant now leases the property. The new restaurant also will be called Tom and Jerry’s and will bear the cat and mouse characters in the window, he said.

Pappas said his proposed building will have about 1,600 square feet of space and will seat 65 to 70 people. He said he also plans to build a parking lot next to the restaurant which will hold 35 to 40 cars.

Jim Hogue, DeKalb City planning coordinator, said Pappas has acquired two lots, the Dairy Queen property and the vacant lot next to it. Hogue said together the land parcels will total about 13,267 square feet. The land will have 125 to 135 feet of Lincoln Hwy. frontage and will extend about 105 feet from the road, he said.

Hogue said Pappas has inquired about leasing the right-of-way of the cul-de-sac at the end of John Street for parking purposes. The John Street cul-de-sac no longer is used by the city as a right-of-way, and Pappas might be able to lease the area from the city on a long-term plan, Hogue said.

Bob Daughter, former owner of the Dairy Queen, said he sold the property to Pappas because the store’s location was not convenient. “The primary reason for selling the store was the location of our business territory,” Daughter said.

Daughter said he and his father Lee own three Dairy Queen stores in the Naperville area and one in Bollingbrook. Because all the stores are in other areas, it was difficult for aughter to maintain the store in DeKalb, he said.

Daughter said he tried to sell the restaurant before Pappas bought it, but no one seemed interested. “Then one day out of the blue John called me and we worked out a price,” he said.

Pappas said he opened another Tom and Jerry’s restaurant in Sycamore eight to nine months ago. The Sycamore restaurant, at 1670 DeKalb Ave., has had “excellent business” since it opened, he said.

The store will feature the same kind of food the original Tom and Jerry’s restaurant sold in the new restaurant, Pappas said. He also would like to try to sell salads and frozen yogurt at the new store, he said.