Shawano business owner refurbishing 1800s building

One Shawano business owner is working to restore a building on Main Street in the city.

Jesse Krajenka is the owner of The Shawano Barbers, 113 S. Main St., and is working to raise money to refurbish his building, which dates back to the 1800s.

“I renovated the whole downstairs area of the barbershop,” said Krajenka. “I am almost done renovating the entire upstairs. There was nothing up there. I got heating, electric and plumbing all installed. There are windows all around this building. There are four big windows all along the front of the building.”

Krajenka said that throughout the years of the building, a previous owner put up siding over the windows and the original brick on the outside of the building.

“They sided over the front of the building and covered up all of the windows,” said Krajenka. “What I want to do now that I am done with the upstairs is, I want to open up the front of the building and get some natural daylight in here. I want to see what the front, original brick looks like.”

He said that when doing research on the building, he found that it used to be a Masonic Temple.

“I found a bunch of paper work, newspapers and religious books, so that confirms that,” said Krajenka. “I know with Free Masons and Masonic buildings, that they don’t have windows, so I came to the conclusion that that was what this building was used for. It is a little creepy.”

Krajenka started a GoFundMe page to help raise funds for refurbishing the building.

“I originally got a quote just to frame out the windows at about $1,000 a piece for four windows,” said Krajenka. “Prices went up. On the GoFundMe, I put $7,500. Maybe that is a little more, maybe it is a little less. I don’t know right now. The $7,500 is just kind of a rough idea.”

He added that he was worried about what the brick looks like underneath the siding.

“It can be in very good shape, because it has been out of the weather and elements, or it can be completely trashed and that’s why they covered it up, I am not sure,” said Krajenka.

Krajenka said that once he raises the funds necessary for refurbishing the building, he wants to leave it all original.

“I love the 1800’s feel,” said Krajenka. “It goes along with the barbershop — that early feel.”

When asked if this would distinguish the barbershop from other buildings in Shawano, Krajenka replied yes and no.

“A lot of the stuff downtown here is either painted or is just modernized,” said Krajenka. “I would love to bring that original look. I do have some pictures from the 1800s when then Murdoch Hotel was on the corner and you can see this original building. I just think that it would be so cool to have an original 1800s building right in downtown Shawano.”

He added that having a building looking like it did in the 1800s will help to bring that historical feeling to the city.

“Barbering goes back thousands of years,” said Krejenka. “If we can get it to feel like it did 150 years ago or so — I think that would be an awesome thing to bring to Shawano.”

Going along with restoring the vintage feeling of the building, Krajenka said that The Shawano Barbers play a role in the community.

“I think that we are one of the only barbershops in the city just for men,” said Krajenka. “I like to think that we bring a urban feel to the area in a rural area.”

Krajenka is documenting a timeline of the construction on the building, which can be viewed on Tiktok, @theshawanobarbers.

lreimer@newmedia-wi.com