What’s up with that yellow building on Belleville’s West Main Street? Here’s an update

As you all know, good readers, I try to keep my eyes and ears open for any activity on my reporting beat.

Sometimes I get new leads through word of mouth or emails and calls from readers. I find others on social media. Some I come across on city government agendas and other records.

Then there are the topics I previously reported that I tend to keep an eye on.

The Harp Pub is one of these.

I first reported that Belleville would get an Irish pub – The Harp Pub – in February 2022 .

It’s located at 1112 W. Main St. in what I previously described as a “gorgeous, historic 1860s building.” I was pretty excited about it. I’m still excited.

While from the outside it doesn’t appear that much is happening with this development, I assure you that it’s still an active project and very much a work in progress.

And progress is being made.

I recently visited owners Glen McElligott and Greg Partelow, together known as G Level and Squared, Inc., at the West Main Street building. I got a good look inside the place, which has a lot of character and great details.

(It was also an opportunity to hear some stories from the two Belleville natives. Unfortunately, I can’t repeat many of them here. But I assure you, they were entertaining and totally made the visit worthwhile.)

If you haven’t been by the site since work on the building started, here are some details about the exterior.

The original front windows and doors have been replaced with new doors, windows and two garage doors. The trim and surrounding brick are now black. (They were previously blue and white.)

Posts along the front are red with touches of black and gold. Decorative trim along the roofline and window trims – previously white – are now black. A limestone step runs across the front of the building.

The rest of the brick is a bright golden yellow. The west-facing wall also has an image of a harp with “The Harp Pub” painted above it. On the east side of the building is a nice little patio for outdoor seating.

I’ll get back to some of these details in a bit.

First look at a work in progress

I entered the building from the west side of the building, welcomed by the sound of an electric sander and the smell of sawdust, which was everywhere .

Partelow and McElligott are doing most of the work themselves, with help from friends and family.

They stopped what they were doing to welcome me to The Harp, and the three of us sat at the sawdust-covered bar.

Partelow and McElligott acquired the property in an auction on St. Patrick’s Day 2021. (Good juju for an Irish pub?) They admit they didn’t start working on the site right away.

McElligott said people tend to assume that if you’re doing construction and remodeling a place, you must have deep pockets.

This is not the case.

The effects of COVID were still a factor. Construction supplies were hard to come by, not to mention expensive.

Progress is slow because they each have other projects, not to mention day jobs, and their architect took several months to get plans together.

A lot of the plans are more in his head than on paper, said McElligott, who admits that he’s not great at relaying what he envisions for the place.

Despite its age, or maybe because of it, it’s a great building.

There used to be two units in the building, and the center wall was previously removed. The original I-beam in the building is still there and is one long, solid piece.

The tree it was cut from had to be at least 100 years old, maybe 200, according to Partelow.

“This building isn’t going anywhere,” he said.

“She’s a solid old girl,” said McElligott. “She just needed a little makeup, that’s all.”

From bars to bathrooms and beyond

The bar is 1930s Art Deco, and it is gorgeous.

It was acquired right after Partelow and McElligott bought the building, and it was a lucky find in a clubhouse in Goreville, Illinois.

The bar has a lot of character as well as a history. The guys proudly pointed out cigarette burns in the wood of the bar front, noting that the worst burns were made by the bartender, who would apparently leave his smoke on the bar while serving drinks.

The original glass and mirrors on the back of the bar were intact when they found it. What looks like curved glass on the bar is actually multiple glass rods that fit side by side. McElligott turned on green lights set behind the rods.

It looks pretty cool and makes the place feel more like an Irish pub.

Much like the green wall behind this bar. Looking up, I noticed that the wall features an intricate design along the top.

In the middle of the space, McElligott is building a second bar where the wall once stood. He felt it seemed right to open things up.

He is building a wood trim for this bar to match the old Goreville bar. On each end are new columns built around existing support posts. Samples of wood stain can be seen on parts of the bar and columns.

Partelow said that putting the colors on the columns gives a better idea of how they would actually look.

Parts of the original flooring couldn’t be salvaged, so the main flooring is new. The floors behind the main bar and in the bathrooms are tiled in a black on white patterned design that helps make the place feel old.

I also got to see some spaces that will not be available to the public when the pub opens, including the area that will become the kitchen.

There’s a brick arch above the space. Partelow said it’s a great element that only the kitchen staff will be able to enjoy.

McElligott said that The Harp will be a bar that serves food, not a restaurant that serves beer, so the kitchen, which will be small, is not a top priority right now.

Off the kitchen is a small foyer with a lovely staircase and beautiful exposed brick walls. A room off to one side leads to what will be their office.

The full basement, also off-limits to patrons, is spacious and has alcoves that sit under the sidewalk in front of the building.

Repurposed cage panels will create a locked space to store inventory for the bar.

Making the old new (and whole) again

And speaking of old, the doors that were on the original storefront were moved inside and are now the doors to the bathrooms, which Partelow said will be the best parts of the building.

He joked about putting beer taps in the bathrooms because they’ll be so nice that people would want to stay in there.

I told him that lines to the bathrooms are bad enough without that kind of encouragement.

The main area’s back walls and the front of the new middle bar are covered in mahogany panels, which were found in an old church in North County, Missouri.

They were previously used as a partition to divide rooms that could be opened to combine spaces for larger gatherings, much like vinyl partitions found in different event venues.

The mahogany adds to the feel of a pub, and if, like me, you’re interested in the little details, the spots on the panels where the hinges were are still visible.

Remember those outside cast iron posts I mentioned earlier?

Well, it turns out that they were built into the original storefront and weren’t full posts. They were cut in half or to about three-fourths of its diameter to blend in with the front.

Partelow said they had a pro come in and “fill in” the rest of the columns. It was a job very well done, and I never would’ve known if he didn’t tell me.

Partelow said they’ve come to call the pub the “Frankenstein building” because they got parts from all over the place. (Oh, how I do love a good literary reference.)

Nearly everything in the place is at least three years old, said McElligott, adding that only the beer (in the mini fridge) is new.

“We’re trying to make it scream ‘old’ and scream ‘Ireland,’” he said.

“I’m just trying to make it scream,” said Partelow.

And the building does scream, in part due to the bright yellow exterior.

For the most part, neighbors have been really positive and often stop by with well wishes.

McElligott and Partelow are also grateful for the support they get from the city, particularly Mayor Patty Gregory, Economic Development, Planning and Zoning Director Cliff Cross, and Penny Moore, Economic Development, Planning and Zoning Coordinator.

As Belleville natives, Partelow and McElligott both remember businesses that used to be in West Belleville.

There used to be two bars on every block, according to McElligott. They hope that by opening The Harp Pub, they can help jump start a revitalization of business in that part of town.

Feeling that their pub project is at a good turning point now, they’re shooting for an opening later this year.

Their priority is finishing the construction and getting the place open, which would be easier if people like me didn’t distract them from their work on Saturdays. Not that they really minded. I was invited to stop by anytime.

I will because I’ve been watching this development for more than two years and will continue to do so, providing updates when I can.

After all, I’m still looking forward to that pint of Guinness. I think I’ll add a nice Irish whiskey sidecar when the time comes.

Auction flyer for 1110 & 1112 W. Main St. in Belleville, IL by Jennifer Green on Scribd