The building prototype plans for the Florida-based Bono’s Pit Bar-B-Q had to be adapted for cold weather conditions before construction could begin on the restaurant chain’s first franchise. West Michigan native Joel Smeenge, a former defensive linebacker for the Jacksonville Jaguars, opened the restaurant at 5115 Lake Michigan Drive on November 8.
“The building had to be Michigan-ized to handle the snow loads,” said Randy VanderHoff, project executive at Rockford Construction Company. “In Florida there are no basements, so we built a mechanical mezzanine and enclosed it. Now they also have a place to store their firewood. In Florida it’s all wide open and if it gets rained on they just throw a tarp over it.”
The 7,000-square-foot building is constructed of structural insulated panels (SIPS) containing six inches of Styrofoam insulation for energy efficiency.
“They’ll save about 30 percent in their utilities,” VanderHoff said of the $1 million facility.
The restaurant’s specialty is slow-roasted meat, and patrons can watch it cook over an open, wood-fired barbeque pit. Design details like the metal hip roof and the exposed interior roof trusses give the 148-seat eatery a rustic appeal.
If the restaurant is successful, Smeenge plans to open five more in the Grand Rapids area.
DTS+ Winkelmann served as the architect on the project.
Source: Randy VanderHoff, Rockford Construction
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