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Tap House 24 gets nod from city licensing group
The second new business poised to take advantage of a new state law that uniquely benefits only Greencastle and Valparaiso is well on its way to local approval.
Tap House 24, a restaurant-bar-entertainment center being planned for the old Horace Link Furniture/Video Heaven space at 24-26 S. Indiana St., won the unanimous approval of the Downtown Greencastle Alcoholic Beverage License Application Committee and will move on to a March 8 hearing before the Greencastle City Council.
The petitioners, Dora Hotel Co. LLC, which operates the Inn at DePauw in Greencastle, is remodeling the interior of the structure at the northwest corner of Indiana and Walnut streets into a space with a modern-industrial feel of exposed brick walls with a large bar as the focal point. The bar itself will focus on microbrews with 24 taps in use at opening and the potential to add more.
Speaking on behalf of Dora Hotels, Gregory T. Genrich, of Bradford and Riley liquor licensing specialists, Indianapolis, said the overall renovation represents a $750,000 to $1 million remodeling project.
Interior demolition is basically complete and framing work is under way, noted Michele Faison, who runs the Inn at DePauw and will help supervisor the new venture.
The two businesses will not share employees, she stressed, with some 35 workers to be hired at Tap House 24.
Plans call for construction completion in May with a June 1 opening, considered a soft opening after the DePauw students have left for the summer.
Genrich said the target audience will be Greencastle area residents along with DPU students and their families.
He explained that the kitchen will be open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The bar will be open until midnight Sunday-Wednesday and until 2 a.m. Thursday-Saturday.
Genrich was asked if the project marked Dora's first foray into a stand-alone restaurant rather than eateries within their 20 hotels located around Indiana.
"Yes, as far as I'm aware of," he replied.
Committee member Rick Barcus asked what might set Tap House 24 apart from other restaurants and bars downtown, mentioning the upcoming new Wasser Brew Pub, The Swizzle Stick and Almost Home, for example.
Genrich quickly pointed to the presence of a chef, the food portions and a creative bartender as well as the value of "clustering of restaurants" as helping to draw people to the venue.
By unanimous vote, committee members Barcus, Susan Lemon and Vincent M. Aguirre sent a favorable recommendation for the Tap House 24 project on to the City Council (which meets Tuesday, March 8 at 7 p.m. at City Hall). A fourth committee member, Bonnie Lowry, was absent.
Last September, Chris Weeks -- who plans to open Wasser Beer Co. brewery and brew pub in the old NAPA store at 102 E. Franklin St., in the near future -- became the first applicant to secure a beverage license through the City of Greencastle Downtown Alcoholic Beverage License Committee.
Such licenses spring from January 2015 City Council approval of a resolution by which Greencastle became the second of two Indiana cities (Valparaiso is the other) to qualify under a unique piece of Indiana legislation. A 10-year-old law allows liquor licenses to be issued to specialty restaurants located within historic downtown districts that meet certain specific requirements. The state law, designed to encourage economic development in such areas, was initially written specifically for Valparaiso.
The strict requirements include the presence of a courthouse, old opera house and former jail as well as the historic district designation. Of course, Greencastle also qualifies under all those stipulations. The unusual legislation is designed to encourage unique dining establishments, not just simple bars or taverns.
The provision allows the possibility of adding up to 10 liquor licenses within the Greencastle historic district, as listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The proliferation of such businesses is being envisioned as possibly making downtown Greencastle a dining destination.