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Old Chicago closed for business over the weekend and will be replaced by Oklahoma-based brewpub chain Bricktown Brewery.
SBJ PHOTO BY ERIC OLSON
Old Chicago closed for business over the weekend and will be replaced by Oklahoma-based brewpub chain Bricktown Brewery.

Bricktown Brewery coming to town

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Expansion plans continue for an Oklahoma-based brewpub chain, as Bricktown Brewery plans to arrive in Springfield later this summer. 

The restaurant will take over the space of Old Chicago, 2040 E. Independence St., which closed its doors Saturday, said Buck Warfield, Bricktown Brewery president and CEO.

Warfield said renovations for Bricktown Brewery should start June 4, with plans to open in late August or early September. The project expenses, including soft costs, training and construction, will be around $750,000, he said. He declined to disclose terms of the lease. The property is owned by Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys and his Blue Star Development company, according to Greene County assessor records.

Operators of Old Chicago could not be reached by deadline. Jeff Judd, the manager of the Old Chicago restaurant in Joplin, told Springfield News-Leader the restaurant chain was not leaving Springfield and planned to reopen in November at 2720 N. Glenstone Ave. Judd was not immediately available for comment.

Of Bricktown Brewery 13 brewpubs in operation, Warfield said 11 of them are in buildings the company took over from other businesses. He estimated costs would easily double with new construction.

The most recent brewpub to open was last week in Midwest City, Oklahoma, giving the chain three in the Oklahoma City area. Its first brewpub opened in 1992 in downtown Oklahoma City, and the company has since added locations in Arkansas, Texas and Kansas. The Springfield restaurant will be the 14th for the company and marks its first restaurant in Missouri, Warfield said.

Among its menu offerings are beers, burgers and pizza. The brewery will have between 24-30 beers on tap, including its line of house beers, and Warfield said many would be local and Missouri-based brews.

“As many as we can get our hands on that are brewed in Springfield we’ll have on tap,” he said. 

The restaurant plans to hire about 75 people, Warfield said.

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