Teehan’s, an Irish bar that’s a fixture in downtown Tinley Park, will live on, at least in name, as part of an agreement with the village which it is buying assets.
Teehan’s, at the northeast corner of Oak Park Avenue and North Street, is in the footprint of the village’s planned Harmony Square development, which is to include a concert stage and splash pad.
Tinley Park is paying $200,000 under terms of the asset purchase agreement, which states the village intends to renovate Teehan’s, although it is not clear if the bar will stay at its existing location.
The closing of the sale is scheduled for Oct. 3, and the owners of Teehan’s agree not to operate a bar within a 5-mile radius, according to the agreement.
The purchase includes things such as tables and chairs, but not the bar’s tin ceiling, according to the agreement.
Intellectual and other property, which includes the names Teehan’s and Teehan’s Irish Bar as well as the phone numbers, email address and website, are also part of the deal, according to the agreement the Village Board approved Aug. 15.
The use of the names are being bought in connection with the development of Harmony or any other such developments in the vicinity of Harmony Square, according to the purchase agreement.
According to a Chicago Tribune profile of the business in May 2003, the tavern’s original zinc and tin ceiling was uncovered during a remodeling project and patched and painted. The ceiling is stamped with an ornate design of medallions with curving borders.
The first business on the site was built in 1852 and called the Pacific Hotel, reflecting the owner’s hope that the nearby railroad line would ultimately extend to the Pacific Ocean, according to the Tribune article. The hotel had rooms on the second floor and a saloon on the first, and hotel names changed as the property changed hands, although the site was briefly the home of a farm machinery business.
The larger Harmony Square development includes 62 apartments in a five-story building that will have parking and commercial space on the first floor.
To the north, on village-owned land that once was the site of the former Central Middle School, there are plans for 63 town homes.
mnolan@tribpub.com
