2001: The Haehnel Building Restoration

The Haehnel Building, better known as Shorty’s Bar, located at 1101 East 11th Street, is now a 4,228 sq ft office building currently leased to Edwards Law Firm. The Haehnel Building is still referenced by many as Shorty’s Bar, in honor of the neighborhood watering hole that occupied it from 1960 to 1987. The building was erected by Salvatore Bailetti in 1875. A German immigrant named Benno Haehnel took it over early in the 20th century. In the years since, it has been a saloon, grocery store, wine shop, bar, and now a law firm. The city acquired it after Shorty, aka Bonno Haehnel, defaulted on a $30,000 economic improvement zone loan in October of 1991. It sat boarded up and dilapidated for another decade before the ARA was able to step in and complete a full historic restoration.