Paddy’s Irish Pub in Ames will soon look to patrons like they’ve stepped off the streets of Campustown and into Ireland. OL Irish Pubs out of Dublin has taken over and will spend the next few weeks remodeling Paddy’s Irish Pub.

John Heverin said everything they are putting in the bar was built in Ireland and shipped over in containers. Each piece is unique and the same colors in the décor do not exist in any of the other bars they have renovated. They design the pieces to fit the demographics of the area to provide a friendly atmosphere.

The crew arrived in Ames the evening of Sunday, Aug. 4 and will be finished and on to their next project on Aug. 17.

What made you decide to remodel bars to look like Irish pubs?

Not sure that question’s for us except the owner. What made us do it is obviously that we’re Irish and it’s what we do for a living. So we go around the world doing the same.

How did you end up coming to Paddy’s in Ames?

We’ve worked, Andrew White, before on projects in Des Moines and elsewhere and when he came around thinking about this bar we thought we’d work together in collaboration.

How many bars have you remodeled?

200 of them.

Do you plan the new design before you go in or plan it once you’ve seen it?

Everything is designed back in the offices in Dublin.

Have you ever been to the United States before?

Yes, pretty much everywhere. We’ve done about 80 bars throughout it, from Texas to L.A. to Mammoth Mountain to New York, New Jersey, Minneapolis [and] Chicago.

How many international projects have you done?

70, from cruise liners, to Russia, to Chile, to India, New Zealand [and] Australia.

How does that work on cruise liners?

It depends on where they are. If they’re brand new ships then they’re either made in Italy or in Sweden. If they’re existing ships then we cordon off sections and sail and start at the same time.

How long do one of your projects usually take?

The on-site part is two to three weeks, but the reality is it’s about 16 to 20 weeks from start to finish, so most of the work is done in Ireland.

Will there have Guinness on tap?

They better, or we won’t put our name on the door.

For those that have frequented Paddy’s, the bar already looks like an entirely different place and the crews have just started working on it. The establishment has been gutted and all the old furniture and trinkets are gone; getting rid of the shuffleboard table and the walls have been repainted. The new furniture, fresh from Ireland, was already sorted out to the section it will soon be installed in.

One side will be like a Victorian bar and the other side will be like a country store. The pool tables will be in the same area they always have been and the double-sided bar will stay the same as well.