Pub makes short-term repairs to parking lot because it can't wait

MENOMONEE FALLS (WITI) -- Having someone repair your parking lot is expensive. Imagine getting the work done today -- knowing you'll need to repave the whole thing in a few months. That's the dilemma at A.J. O'Brady's Irish Pub in Menomonee Falls.

Workers were busy Monday, March 10th pounding, raking and pushing cold-mix into the numerous potholes that have occupied the parking lot at A.J. O'Brady's.

The bar's owner, Ed Campbell says he will need to completely repave the parking lot later this year -- a project that could cost more than $30,000.

Still, he opted for short-term repairs on Monday -- work that costs $3,000.

"We would normally wait until times got warmer but we`re an Irish pub and we`ve got a big event coming up with St. Patrick`s Day this weekend. We`ve got a huge tent we`re putting up in the parking lot, we have a stage, we have bands," Campbell said.

Inside, numerous signs promote the four days of St. Patrick's festivities planned for A.J. O'Brady's. Campbell says even with the luck of the Irish, he doesn't want to risk having someone trip or turn an ankle.

"We`re gonna have over 1,000 people out there in the parking lot, so the time is now to get it fixed. I can`t really wait," Campbell said.

And with that, a crew from Munson-Armstrong Paving worked to patch up the lot on Monday. The project foreman says a brutal winter has forced many businesses to call for repairs sooner than they'd like.

"It`s pretty bad. I would say it`s the most memorable that I`ve seen in the 23 years I`ve been doing this. It`s been a pretty bad freeze/thaw cycle. It`s hard for us to keep up with the repair work we`ve been doing at other places as well," Steve Seidl said.

While many businesses need parking lot repairs, very few are choosing to make both short-term and long-term repairs.

"It is frustrating we have to do it twice but, it`s the nature of the beast. It`s March and St. Patrick`s Day is coming so we planned and knew we had to do it -- so we`ve kind of planned for it a little bit but we didn`t plan for the cold winter," Campbell said.

Temperatures in the 50s Monday, combined with a near 30-degree drop forecasted for later in the week would have put the parking lot in even worse shape, according to Seidl.

He says for any business with a parking lot, the key is maintaining it over time -- fixing small problems as they pop up in order to avoid huge problems in the future.