For more than a year, the City of Perry has been without a dedicated ice cream shop, but that’s all about to change with the impending opening of “Frio.”

The shop will be in the building located across the alley from Perry City Hall along 1st Street, and it will be owned and operated by Tom Maxwell, who earlier this year took ownership of Hotel Pattee. Maxwell says Frio, which is Spanish for “cold,” is an idea that came to him as he was surveying things Perry has been lacking. “I mean obviously trying to take a view of the landscape of what Perry has, (I) noticed it didn’t really have an ice cream shop. And it just seemed to be a good fit for what this community was looking for and needing, and obviously with Mars Dairy Bar closing, it just seemed like the perfect time to do it.”

Maxwell adds, he purchased Mars Diner mostly to obtain the equipment inside. Once Frio is up and running, he’ll turn his attention to renovating and flipping the Mars facility for a potential new owner. In the meantime, the remodel of the Frio building continues, and once that’s done Maxwell will move the equipment in and start staffing the shop. He’s excited for his newest venture, and sees it as yet another way for him to establish a positive presence in Perry. “As I stated when I first came to town, I just wanted to get involved in the community. I’m very excited about where the hotel is right now and how it’s progressing. It’s growing, everything’s doing really well here. Frio is just an extra added business that I think people in the community will appreciate. I hope everybody really enjoys it!”

Maxwell and Hotel Pattee General Manager Aaron Lenz will be overseeing operations at Frio, in addition to the hotel, and they hope to have it operational before the end of July.