By Dewey Terrill
JC Post
Charles ( Chuck ) and Deanna Munson bid $926,000 during a bankruptcy sale in Abilene on Monday to acquire the former Brookville Hotel restaurant property. Pinnacle Bank had put the property up for sale with the Munson's submitting the lone bid. They plan to open a new restaurant called Legacy Kansas, with a subtitle acknowledging both the Brookville Hotel and Munson's Prime.
Charles and Deanna owned the Munson Prime steakhouse in Junction City that was destroyed by fire in February of 2021. They now plan to open the new restaurant with what Deanna termed "the best of both worlds. We will continue the traditional family style served chicken the way it was done at Brookville. " Munson said in at least three of the rooms, there will be a bar with high top tables and the other available rooms will serve menu items including "high-end Munson steaks and also burgers." In that latter area customers will also be able to order a plated Brookville chicken dinner. There are also plans to serve Munson homemade ice cream.
There is work to be done to prepare the facility with the goal of a June 24th, 2022 opening, explained Deanna. "We have a ways to go. First of all it deteriorated in the last year and there are things missing that were there before that are not there now." The work can progress again on remodeling the bar in the building, the ice cream machine has to be remade and a facility must be built to hold that machine. There will need to be some work as well to staff the new restaurant
The original plan called for the restaurant to be open by June 24th, 2021, but back tax issues facing the previous owners of the Brookville Hotel resulted in a delay and eventually concluded with the sale on Monday.
Deanna explained how this project fits their dream. "To do something like this, not to own a restaurant, not to have a steakhouse. " She said they want the farm community. "The Legacy Kansas is perfect for what Chuck ,and especially my dream is, for where we leave Munson Farms when we leave this world. We've got the next generation that as far as our management team that probably are as eager to make it we want it to be as we are, and they're young!"