By JOLENE CRAIG
Ohio Correspondent

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Bob Evans Farm and the chain’s first restaurant is undergoing a multimillion-dollar restoration in an attempt to attract more tourism to the Rio Grande, Ohio, site.

The $3 million project began in mid-March and will restore, renovate and refresh the farm, homestead and original restaurant where Bob Evans raised his family and started the business in southeastern Ohio, about 80 miles southeast of Columbus.

Contracts for the work include renovations of a barn to be used as a reception and meeting place, relocation of the Adamsville log cabin village closer to the farm’s homestead and restaurant and the building of a new music amphitheatre, according to Bob Evans spokeswoman Margaret Standing.

“These changes are an attempt to attract more people to the homestead, and with the relocation of the cabins as well as the music amphitheatre, we expect to see a lot more people,” Standing said.

Farm manager Ray McKinnis said the homestead and farm are the inspiration of what the restaurant and brand is about, and the hope is these new changes will inspire diners at the 145 restaurants in 24 states around the country to visit the homestead.

“These renovations are really a move to take the farm back to what it was years ago,” Standing said.

The first Bob Evans Restaurant opened in 1953 after Evans started the company at his farm. The first five restaurants had opened by 1962. Evans died in 2007 at the age of 89.

Although the renovations and changes to the homestead property and first restaurant are meant to be enjoyed by visitors to the property all year long, Standing said that plans are to have the project completed by this fall. “We will have everything finished by October, when the 41st annual Bob Evans Farms Festival begins,” she noted.

The festival will run from Oct. 14-16 this year. “The festival is a celebration of harvest time and is a tribute to a yearning for simpler times,” Standing said.
More than 30,000 people from 19 states typically attend the three-day event. Visitors to the festival will enjoy entertainment, arts and crafts, farm contests and demonstrations. Year-round attractions at the homestead include hiking, camping, horseback riding and a museum dedicated to the history of the brand.
“The homestead remains the largest tourist draw in Gallia County, and expect this project to attract more people to the farm,” Standing said.