Sycamore City Council awards facade grant to Hink’s Bar and Grill

SYCAMORE – Hink’s Bar and Grill in Sycamore’s downtown will undergo a face-lift using a facade grant awarded to the bar’s owner at Monday’s City Council meeting.

Michael Henke, who owns the establishment at 123 California St., appeared Monday before the City Council, seeking a grant to help make repairs to the building, which has housed Hink’s Bar and Grill for the past 23 years.

Council members unanimously agreed to allow the bar to move forward with renovations, and pitch in a 50 percent match for as much as $5,000 of the total cost.

Henke plans to replace the building’s vinyl siding with Fond Du Lac stone, and install a new window and two new doors, city documents show.

The project, which is estimated to cost $12,350, will improve the city’s downtown aesthetics, Mayor Ken Mundy said.

“We’re happy to see the siding, much of which is very unattractive these days, removed,” Mundy said. “And in some cases, the facades restore to the historical presence that they had when maybe the building was even built. So that’s exciting for downtown Sycamore.”

The architectural review committee and City Manager Brian Gregory are working to include a "clawback" provision in the city's facade improvement program, after a building that formerly housed Tommy O's was demolished just a year after receiving a $5,000 grant from the city.

Council members unanimously approved the $5,000 facade grant in October 2014 to be put toward fresh paint and new windows and doors for the building at 107 S. Sacramento St. Tommy O's restaurant, the building's last tenant, left the building in 2014.

Under the rules of the city’s facade grant improvement program, the building’s owners must maintain improvements for at least five years.

“Obviously, we don’t want to see an improvement made, a grant issued, and then the business not follow through with the longer-term business plan,” Mundy said. “No one has a crystal ball, and we hope that doesn’t happen, that we’re not in that situation again.”

Henke was not immediately available to comment Tuesday.