Steamer Stop to bring EV charging to Fulton

CHRIS BALDUS cbaldus clintonherald c, Clinton Herald, Iowa
·4 min read

Jun. 21—It's a first for Fulton. Not only that, but for the state of Illinois and maybe beyond.

That point was reiterated by government and company representatives about the developing Steamer Stop convenience store and electric vehicle charging station at its ground-breaking ceremony on Thursday.

"In their seven years, they have created a restaurant, they have bought a building downtown and now they have turned this into what is going to be one of the first in our area," said Fulton Mayor Wendy Ottens. "So I can't be prouder of them for their hard work that they do for Fulton. We need 100 of you guys."

They are husband and wife Adim and Sanela Dzelandini, owners of the Brunch House restaurant that is three blocks south on Fourth Street from their new charging station. They are repurposing what had been an abandoned gas station. It's tanks had been removed.

"Your hard work and what you do everyday for the community is a blessing to us," Ottens said as she thanked them for investing their time, energy and money.

The Dzelandinis purchased the parcel in July of 2023, according to Whiteside County online records. They do not have a date set for opening Steamer Stop.

Also during the ground-breaking, Iowa Rep. Tom Determann, R-District 69, congratulated them and wished them good luck. Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R- District 89, thanked them.

"The EV push is such a huge push here in Illinois and all around the nation, so for you to have the courage to go forward and take this big step on this investment, we certainly appreciate that here."

A representative from ComEd, the electric company involved in the project, talked about the EV future.

"With currently 100,000-plus EVs on the road in Illinois, most of them here in Northern Illinois ... we all kind of understand that convenient charging is one of the biggest hurdles we're facing now, so what a great investment," said Nick Escobar of ComEd.

"Right now we're offering almost $100 million in rebates to both public and private sectors when it comes to redoing fleets, installing charging stations," he said. "So, we come together with both public and private sector to kind of make this happen. And it is going to be a great, big, generator for the city of Fulton. Congratulations, we look forward to working together. This is going to be fun."

In addition to the tourism aspect that comes along with drawing people to town to quickly charge their EVs, Matt Parbs, Grow Clinton's vice president of community and economic development, talked about the benefits of restoring abandoned buildings.

"For me, it is really awesome to see how Fulton and Clinton are addressing things like this," he said, applauding the investment in a closed gas station. "That's what I always love to see, is the reuse of a building to really keep that tax base going and vibrancy up and down the corridor. You guys have an awesome corridor all the way down to the Brunch House and farther. Congratulations and thanks for investing in our community."

The Dzelandinis expressed thanks to all the people who came out to the groundbreaking to support them and the project.

"Steamer Stop I think was born today with all you guys and the help of this great community we're in," Sanela Dzelandini said.

"We are just very thankful that we have landed in such a great community," said Adim Dzelandini, noting the community has backed them since they opened their business.

"We're willing and hoping to grow and give as much as we can," he said. Hopefully what we're doing today is going to bring more to the community and change the future that we're looking forward to. ... And Red E, which Tommy (Gilmer of Clinton) got us connected with, have been great so far and hopefully we can just keep going from here on with them. Just very pleased and excited to be part of this community."

Anthony Cacaj, vice president of operations at Red E, which will provide the charging stations, noted how Steamer Stop's set up is different when it comes to charging stations. So far, they have shown up in corners of parking lots or as add-ons at gas stations. This station will be only for EV charging with a system that is interchangeable between EV brands, both physically and with software. It will handle Tesla or Ford, for example, he said.

"So something like this, just being one of the first, if not only the first in the entire country, it's super cool, and it's just so innovative that I think it will be good not only for the business owners but for the city itself."

He also talked about the capability of the chargers.

"They are also so fast. You're only plugged in for about 15 to 20 minutes," he said, enough time to go into the store, use the restroom and get a snack.