Oct. 16--PEORIA, Ill.--After 40 years of operating Bavarian-style castle lodges with a hint of fantasy and aristocracy, the Jumer's hotel chain is ending its reign in central Illinois. 

On Friday, founder D. James Jumer said two of his five hotels are sold or pending sale and the remaining three have serious potential buyers. 

Galesburg attorney Barry Barash has purchased the Galesburg hotel for $1 million, pending approval of U.S. bankruptcy court. 

Barash said he expects to change the name to Prairie Inn and operate the 145-room hotel as a Best Western. 

The Urbana hotel sold in July to a Clinton, Mo., firm. 

"People in Peoria marked the milestones of their lives with Jumer's. They celebrated graduations, weddings, anniversaries and birthdays at Jumer's," said Frank Pedulla, president of Jumer's Castle Lodge. 

At its peak, Jumer's Castle Lodge Inc. was one of only two four-star hotel properties in the state. The antique-filled hotels, developed under the vision of founder D. James Jumer, employed nearly 800 people. 

The corporation filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court Central District of Illinois in Peoria on July 13, 1999. At the time assets were listed as $29.5 million and liabilities $24.1 million. 

Speaking Friday of events leading to bankruptcy, Jumer said he retired in the late 1990s and sold 30 percent of the company to the Saranow Group of Winnetka with the stipulation they would restructure the company's long term debt. 

However, within 18 months, the company was over-leveraged, Jumer said, and he saw no recourse but bankruptcy. 

"Our business had dropped some. A lot of new hotels had come to the area. People wanted to be downtown and on the riverfront, not on the west bluff. People did not want to hunt for their hotel," he said. 

"The property needed a big shot in the arm. I put in $1 million and the partners put in $2 million, but they had entered leasing agreements and those payments were due. Business was coming back, but not fast enough for those leases. That triggered the reorganization." 

Jumer said he won't announce the sales of the other three hotels until the deals close. Those hotels are in Peoria, Bloomington and Bettendorf, Iowa. He hopes the new owners will maintain the unique character of each hotel. 

"This is not something that was built at once. Mr. Jumer developed these properties over 40 years," Pedulla said. "He took the first and biggest risk of anyone when he started The Boatworks in 1989 on the riverfront. People have a tendency to forget that, and the lighting of the Murray Baker Bridge. That was the first step in attracting other developers and moving forward on the riverfront." 

Jumer spearheaded investment in the riverfront when he brought his paddlewheeler, The Spirit of Peoria, to the foot of Main Street. He operated a river museum and a restaurant on two barges moored to the shore. He was an early organizer in Oktoberfest celebrations on the riverfront. 

Jumer's Castle Lodge had 840 guest rooms in five locations with 175 rooms in Peoria, 180 in Bloomington, 210 in Bettendorf, 145 in Galesburg and 130 in Urbana. 

The bankruptcy filing does not include Jumer's Casino Rock Island and all the other independently held businesses owned by the Jumer family. 

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(c) 2001, Journal Star, Peoria, Ill. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.