It’s hard to believe, but over a year ago on July 16, 2015, I put up a post here on MBIP where I visited Trefzger’s Bakery and they showed me the new building that they had just started making plans to move into. I took some photos and returned a few months ago in May of this year and took even more photos of how the renovations on the building were going. Back then they told me that they were hoping to open the bakery up in the new building in October of this year and that I could come back in August and take some more photos of how things were progressing in the new building. Well, since yesterday was the last day of August, I figured I better get over there while we still had a day in August to do this! But before we look at the new building...
Let’s stop in at the one that most of us are familiar with, Trefzger’s Bakery on Prospect. The new building is just minutes away, up the road in Peoria Heights, but I’m meeting Trefzger’s owners, Jeff and Martha here, so let’s go in and see what’s happening inside.
As usual, there’s a line in here for the wonderful bakery items that are made fresh here on a daily basis. Of course, I’m early, so while we wait for Jeff and Martha, let’s take a look at some of those aforementioned baked goodies in the cases here at Trefzger’s Bakery!
Cookies, cream horns and cakes...oh my! Everything always looks and smells so great in here! And check out the semi-obligatory mirror shot in the last photo...I love that!
And as the customers are being waited on in a timely fashion, there’s Jeff at the end of the counter, then we found Martha in the back in her office and we took off through the back kitchen area and up the road on Prospect towards Peoria Heights and the new Trefzger’s Bakery location! But before we take a look at the building as it stands today, let’s go back in time and see how it’s progressed since Jeff and Martha started renovating the building.
July 16, 2015
Here’s the building when we came to see it on the first trip over a year ago...
May 25, 2016
And here it is from last May. And now...
August 31, 2016
Here it is today! It’s looking spectacular! The building has been standing here since 1895 and I love that they’ve fixed up this historical building and it can keep the original charm while being renovated to showcase a brand new Trefzger’s Building and era for the local bakery that’s been in business in Peoria since the 1800’s. An historical Peoria business moves into an historical Peoria building, perfect!
Here’s another shot of the front of the building and a photo from the back. It’s really a mammoth building and Jeff and Martha have lots of plans here for this place as we’ll soon see!
Here’s Jeff and Martha welcoming us into the building from the side door, but once again, before we enter, let’s take a look back in time to...
May 25, 2016
I have to admit when I first saw the inside of the building, I wondered how they were going to fix it all up! But fast forward to yesterday and...
August 31,2016
As you can see they’re doing a fabulous job in here. River City Construction has been doing the work in here and it looks fantastic! I love all the wood and the brick walls and check out the cooler in the middle of the room!
There’s another room beyond this brick archway where they’re installing state of the art ovens for the new bakery. The recipes will remain the same as they’ve been, but the kitchen will be updated and taken into the next era! It’s really exciting seeing all of this!
Jeff pointed out this space which will be the public bathroom and there’s a tribute in here. On the floor are the number’s from the 4th generation owner, Joe Trefzger’s license plate. Nice!
As I said at the beginning of the post, Jeff and Martha have plans to take this building beyond just a bakery. The elevator is now working, but we’re taking the stairs up to the top floor and check out this room up here! This is going to be an events room that can be rented out for wedding receptions, private parties, corporate events and any kind of party or celebration you want to have up here. They’re in the process of getting the liquor license and there’s a room for keeping the catered food for the events fresh and warm and of course the bakery goods and items will come from the kitchen below! The space up here is going to be a whole separate entity from the bakery portion of the building and it’s even going to have its own name and logo...
And here’s a preview of that logo on Martha’s phone! The name of the upstairs event area is going to be called, “Trailside Event Center” and I think this is going to be the place for wedding receptions and holiday parties as soon as it opens! Who knows, maybe we’ll even have an MBIP party up here down the road!
Over on this side of the top floor is an area where studio spaces will be available in the building. As you can see, these are going to be wonderful spaces for smaller businesses and if you’re interested in possibly inhabiting one of these studio spaces, you can contact Katie Kim from The Kim Group to discuss it. How nice to have a studio where you can just walk down the stairs to get fresh bakery goods every day! Okay, let’s take the stairs back down...
And check out the basement in the building! I’ve never been down here and this is where the deliveries to the bakery will be dropped off and he also told me that Leaves ‘n Beans will be using a space down here to roast their coffee beans and utilize the space for storage. There’s certainly going to be a lot of activity in this building!
Finally, Jeff and Martha took me to this room where they’re storing a lot of wood, doors and window fixtures that came down from the building during the renovation. They plan on using this to the design for the new spaces in the building to keep the historic aspect of the place alive. There’s no definite date on when Trefzger’s officially opens in here, but Jeff and Martha told me it would definitely be in October, which is just weeks away! Stay tuned and let the countdown begin! Thanks to Jeff and Martha for giving us another tour and update on the new space! We’ll see you all tomorrow!
Related Posts: Trefzger’s Bakery—The Sweetest Thing and Trefzger’s Bakery—The Sweetest Thing—Part II.