Village To Buy Teehan's Name, Will Tear Down Bar And Build Anew

TINLEY PARK, IL — An established name in downtown Tinley Park will remain, but the building bearing it will be demolished and built anew.

In an agreement approved by officials last week, the Village of Tinley Park is set to buy the name and related assets of Teehan's, 17329 S. Oak Park Avenue in downtown Tinley Park at a price tag of $200,000.

The Village will close in October on the deal to purchase the name Teehan's and correlated Teehan’s Irish Bar, with plans to raze the building and rebuild it, still as a restaurant/bar, Village Manager Pat Carr told Patch Tuesday. Aging infrastructure under the building necessitates its demolition, Carr added.

The deal grants full ownership of the business name, phone number, email address and website to the Village, according to the agreement. The business' operator Regis Teehan was on a month-to-month lease on the property, the document states. The Village already owns the building and surrounding property, Carr states.

In planning for the Harmony Square project—touted as an adaptive plaza space to be built at North Street and Oak Park Avenue—Village officials sought for nearly 20 years to acquire key parcels of property along North Street. The Village in May 2023 closed on a $1.9 million deal for four pieces of property, including Teehan's, Carr said.

To be built on 1.6 acres near the intersection, Harmony Square plans include an artificial turf lawn, a concert stage and a focal “gateway” plaza, seasonal fire pits, a splash pad for summer that converts into an ice rink during the winter.

Demolition on the current Teehan's building is projected to begin by year's end, Carr told Patch. A newly constructed building will operate as a bar/restaurant space. The Village will retain ownership, and is seeking bids from those interested in operating a restaurant/bar in the space. The Village will lease the space to any future business venture.

"It will be a restaurant/bar that will complement Harmony Square and event space," Carr told Patch.

Teehan is prohibited from operating another bar within a 5-mile radius for a period of five years from the closing, per the agreement. Teehan also currently lives in residential space above the bar.

The Village and Teehan will take inventory of the bar space ahead of the demolition, determining what Teehan might keep or sell, and what might be reused in the new building, for nostalgia, Carr said.

The deal is the latest step in bringing to fruition the Village's vision for a multi-use plaza in the downtown.

"Harmony Square is part of a bigger plan to redevelop Downtown Tinley, which is already underway with the opening of the Boulevard at Central Station and the many new businesses along Oak Park Avenue," Mayor Mike Glotz said previously. "Once complete, it will be the living room of Tinley Park, a central hub where people will come to hang out and relax."