Back Forty Country Bar Downtown

[joeDowntown]

Not a fan of Country but it's cool to see another bar trying a different approach:

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2012/01/downtown_grand_rapids_is_going.html

I was confused about the expansion plans. Adding a second floor and changing the windows to be garage doors? Isn't the building in the Heartside (Historic) district. I can't imagine that happening (it's a cool old building).

Joe

[RegalTDP]

Hahaha!! I get the feeling "Not of fan of country, but..." precedes a lot of people's reactions to this story.

[joeDowntown]

While I'm not a fan, I think it is a smart business move. I hope they have a mechanical bull.

[andrew.w]

I was confused about the expansion plans. Adding a second floor and changing the windows to be garage doors? Isn't the building in the Heartside (Historic) district. I can't imagine that happening (it's a cool old building).

My guess is that if the Historic Commission approved the design, the second floor will be set back enough that it will either not be visible or not dominant from the street. Since the existing storefront windows don't appear to be original, the Commission may be a little more flexible on what replaces them. The garage "doors" might fit within the existing openings and not come all the way down to floor level (they can't on the east side anyway since the interior floor is lower than the sidewalk.