Volvo dealership moving to Barn of Barrington site
An automobile dealership will be ending a 53-year run in downtown Barrington by moving to a site on the village's south end where a popular restaurant previously operated.
McGrath Volvo Cars of Barrington will go from 300 N. Hough St. to the former Barn of Barrington property. Closed since 2009, the Barn of Barrington was a traditional restaurant before shifting to a banquet and Sunday brunch venue.
At a meeting Monday night, the Barrington village board approved a special-use permit for McGrath Volvo's plan to construct a 30,000-square-foot automobile sales and service building to replace the shuttered eatery. It'll border the Marquardt of Barrington Buick GMC dealership in an auto sales corridor that also includes Motor Werks.
Chris McGrath, chief financial officer for the dealership group, said after the vote he expects the new Volvo facility at 1415 S. Barrington Road to be ready in the fall. The dealership will be leaving a roughly 1-acre property with 70 display spaces for nearly 5 acres where up to 315 vehicles for sale can be parked.
"Operating out of the facility that we're currently in limits our ability for both sales and service and offering customers as good experience, whether they're buying or servicing their car," McGrath said. "So, these new facilities really show a customer what the product is able to provide them when it comes to the nice showroom and great service center."
Barrington Village President Karen Darch credited top administrators for bringing the proposal to fruition.
"I know it's a lot of work," Darch said, "and a really good project to be expanding in the village."
McGrath bought the downtown Barrington Volvo dealership from the Mausser family in late 2016. McGrath told village officials the business was purchased with an understanding that a new dealership would have to be built elsewhere or improvements made to the downtown facility, which no longer meets Volvo corporate standards.
Questions about the Volvo dealership's future in downtown Barrington were raised as far back as 2000, when previous owner Franz Mausser resisted village efforts to relocate the business and redevelop his property. The Volvo dealership opened on Hough Street in 1965.
Chris McGrath said the dealership will address the Hough Street property after the move to the new location.
As for the Barn of Barrington, it debuted in 1971 and achieved regional popularity for menu items such as steaks and coconut shrimp. The barn portion of the restaurant, believed to be at least 145 years old, was the main area where lunch and dinner were served.
However, an ownership group cited an inability to incur steep expenses to correct building problems in announcing the Barn of Barrington's closure nine years ago. The structure has been vacant since then.
Barn of Barrington's regular restaurant service was discontinued in 2007. The business focused on weddings, special events and the Sunday brunch in the final two years.