Urban Innovations Announces Renovation of Banging Gavel Brewpub in the Historic Karl Vogt Building

Urban Innovations is pleased to announce a new renovation and expansion project in downtown Tinley Park of the historic Karl Vogt Building at 6811 Hickory Street. The Vogt Building is the only Building in Tinley Park listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a prominent feature of the Village’s downtown. While this structure was thought to have been built by Carl Vogt, it was built around 1865 by John Lewis or his brother Allen Cleveland Lewis in the popular Italianate style (1850s to1880s) as a secondary home—hunting lodge. If you’ve ever traveled to the south, it might remind you of a “plantation home.”

This house was somewhat of an anomaly in its day, as it was far larger than any other home in the area, and was constructed of brick at a time when all the other structures in the Village of Bremen (now Tinley Park) were of frame (wood) construction. The four-story, 7,835-square-foot former apartment building will become The Vogt House by Banging Gavel Brews. The project has a planned completion in June 2023, just in time for the summer’s busy social season.

“Since our purchase of the building in 2017, we have envisioned a lively gathering place where neighbors and visitors can come together for great food, beer, wine, spirits and live music. We want to create a unique “total” experience for our quest,” said Jim Richert, partner and president of Banging Gavel. “Since launching the Vogt Bier Garden during the last two summer seasons, we are very much looking forward to welcoming patrons year-round.”  

The project entails an interior and exterior renovation of the four-story building including a complete gut and structural re-enforcement throughout each floor and lowering the basement slab to make room for the new brewery. Other improvements include a new ADA ramp on the west side of the building, new mechanical, electrical and plumbing infrastructure including new electrical service to the building, two new kitchens and a Brunswick style bar to pay homage to the period of the time the home was built. It will feature both inside and outside restaurant seating, new landscaping and paving, and new interior circulatory steel stairs. Special events and live music will be hosted in both the beer garden and inside.

“This project is thoughtful and purposeful in bringing together the old and new, rejuvenating the charming original elements of the building to serve a modern life as an entertainment hub for Tinley Park,” said Jason Zeman, project manager for Urban Innovations. “The close collaboration between the project partners and the co-owners will ensure that every detail is considered.”

The building has an Italianate design, including a two-story porch with balustrades on each floor, tall windows with limestone lintels and a cornice with ornamental brackets and moldings. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. To comply with the National Park Service’s landmark criteria, new front and rear porches will match historical layout and details, and the original interior corridor and stairs, front and back doors, cornices, and ornamental brackets throughout will be refurbished.

The architects, Katherine Pohl and Joakim Backstrom of Altus Works have been working closely with the National Parks Service’s and the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) from the beginning of the project. The vice president of construction is Ramiro Trevino and the construction superintendent is Albert Bauer. Learn more about the Vogt House’s past, present and future at https://bangingavel.com/about/#vogt.

Previous
Previous

Urban Innovations shores construction expertise with two new hires

Next
Next

Urban Innovations negotiates six leases in Chicago’s River North office buildings