A number of restaurants have tried, and failed, to make a go of it in the building at 618 Tenney St.

Now, a new use for the building has been proposed: A cannabis dispensary.

A company called HVN Capital Inc. has filed an application for a special use permit allowing a dispensary in the building. City Manager Gary Bradley said it’s his understanding that HVN Capital already has a state license to operate a cannabis dispensary.

Mechanical Service Inc. (MSI), a Galesburg-based company, is listed as the owner of the Tenney Street property. Officials of the company were not available for comment Monday.

After having been the site of a Sherwin Williams paint store, the 618 Tenney building was converted into a restaurant called Anthony’s by Tony and Lisa Rashid. Other restaurant tenants in the building have included the Grill and Chill, R.J. Boar’s barbecue, Katie’s House of Steaks and, most recently, the Broken Chimney.

Establishing a cannabis dispensary in the building was made possible last August, when the City Council voted to change the distance a dispensary must be from a church or school.

The original city ordinance prohibited dispensaries within 1,000 feet of a school or church, and since 618 Tenney St. is within that distance of Wethersfield schools, no cannabis dispensary could go there.

But the council last Aug. 13, recognizing that there are few parts of Kewanee that aren’t within 1,000 feet of a church or school (or both), reduced the distance to 250 feet. So the Broken Chimney building can now house a dispensary.

The Planning Commission will discuss the permit application next week. The permit is the only item on the commission’s April 24 agenda; that meeting will start at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.

Whether the Planning Commission approves or disapproves the permit, it will go to the City Council for final action at its May 13 meeting. The council can vote to overturn a Planning Commission recommendation.