May 14, 2022 – Kewaskum, WI – A ribbon cutting was held at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 14, 2022 to dedicate the opening of the new Foundry 45 in Kewaskum, WI. The building is formerly home to The Amerahn Dance Hall and Steve & Mary’s Minor Bar.
Some of the unique details include a little vestibule area around the corner from the entrance, the former dance hall is now open to the rafters and windows and garage doors added for lighting.
The remodel features plenty of nuggets of history including reused timber from the property, a display of metal beer cans found in the walls during the remodel, the old cash register is behind the 32-foot bar and the classic Budweiser beer wagon light has been fixed.
Click HERE to take a look at the original architectural drawings for the Amerahn
Foundry 45, 9480 N. Fond du Lac Avenue in the Town of Kewaskum.
There’s a stage for musical entertainment, a DJ booth, and all the tables have been made from the trees cut to clear the back lot for additional parking.
It was February 2021 when Marie Kleinke and her family were preparing to sell the establishment. The remodel of Foundry 45 got underway in late 2021.
“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 HERE to 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 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,” Josh Cadman, one of the partners in Foundry 45.
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 finished 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.”
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