Kewaskum, WI – “Welcome to Foundry 45,” said Josh Cadman as we step inside what used to be the Amerahn, 9480 N. Fond du Lac Avenue in the Town of Kewaskum. Historians will remember it as the old Steve & Mary’s teen bar.
It was February 2021 when Marie Kleinke and her family were preparing to sell the establishment. The property is now going through a major remodel and is expected to open in early 2022.
“We’re just changing some things up,” said Cadman. Turning the corner of the entrance of the little vestibule area, the former dance hall is now open to the rafters and windows and garage doors added for lighting.
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“Right here is going to be a lounge where there’ll be a fireplace in the middle, some couches just a cool place to hang out,” said Cadman.
Click HERE for a trip down memory lane at the Amerahn
While the interior looks enormous, Cadman said the footprint is exactly the same as the old building.
“When this was the Amerahn there was basically an angle-shaped bar and there was a
drop ceiling. We removed the drop ceiling and went to the structural stuff above.”
Click HEREto look at design plans for the interior of Foundry 45
There is new plumbing, concrete flooring has been ripped up and replaced, insulation has been installed along with weatherproofing the roof and work is underway for a new 40-foot bar.
“One of the things we want to make sure is when you’re here for a wedding or for a band you don’t want people waiting to get their drinks,” Cadman said.
The original bar was built in 1959 and the hall was added in 1974.
Cadman compares the bones of the entire structure to “built like a battleship; the mechanicals all needed to be upgraded but so far everything we’ve dug into on the building has been a pleasant surprise.”
The remodel includes storage space, a catering kitchen, larger stage and a sound-and-light system with a control booth.
While the interior remodel is underway, there is also a vast exterior remodel in back of the building which will feature an outdoor stage, lighting, a steel canopy
“We have a great big space out here where the building drops down a little bit there’s going to be a canopy that comes out 16 feet and that hole, we cut in the side there is going to be an indoor-outdoor bar to serve the people that are outside watching music,” Cadman said.
“We just want a cool place to hang out,” he said. “We’ll have campfires going, we cleared space where that old green shed used to be because probably one of our biggest hurdles is going to be parking.”
As the vision of the site comes to fruition, Cadman said the team is now simply “putting things back together” to open in 2022.
Click HERE to make your reservation at Foundry 45 in Kewaskum, WI.
Coming up watch for a video tour of the remodeled bar and upstairs wedding suites at Foundry 45.
