NELSONVILLE, Ohio — “It feels like coming home.”
That’s how Nelsonville resident Brandon Phoenix described The Mine Tavern’s reopening this past Saturday, July 18.
Phoenix told the Independent he missed The Mine Tavern “tremendously” during its months-long closure due to a partial wall collapse in February.
“It’s my favorite local watering hole,” Phoenix said.
The Mine Tavern, at 14 Public Square in Nelsonville, is one of Ohio’s longest continuously operating bars. It closed this past winter after part of a wall in the historic building collapsed.
The Mine Tavern reopened at 2 p.m. July 18, with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 4 p.m., followed by live music. A portion of the Nelsonville Public Square shut down to vehicular traffic for the occasion.
Patrick Norway, the tavern’s general manager, counted the days from the building’s closure to its reopening: five months and three days. He told the Independent the reopening felt “surreal.”
“The weight is off my shoulders in seeing all of our friends and family and patrons,” Norway said. “We worked really hard the last three days, and even though we had a lot of doubters thinking that we’d be unable to pull this off, we did it.”
The Mine Tavern did not undergo a complete renovation, although a significant portion of the building needed restructuring. “They had to completely rebuild the entire front right-hand corner of it,” Norway said.
But that wasn’t all.
“We had a structural engineer come and check the integrity of the building, and we have a 36-inch wide concrete board wall for the first floor, and an over-engineered studded wall for the second floor,” Norway said. “In the rear of our building, we fixed some of the brickwork that needed attention on the backside.”
The tavern’s exterior is different, but the interior is still recognizably The Mine, with its embossed tin walls and ceiling, pool tables, KENO machines, and dining tables.
“The only thing that really changed was the front right wall and the storefront changed, and they redid all the brick on the front right-hand corner,” Norway said. “We got a new floor, a new bar.”
The men’s restroom also “got a little bit of a remodel,” Norway said, with updates to the women’s restroom coming soon.
Stephen Bishop, who has worked at The Mine for about the past three years, said the past few months without the tavern have been “upsetting.”
“I’ve been longing for a social place to go and hang out, essentially,” Bishop said. “We used to see a lot of people here, and find myself driving to Logan too many, too often, and Athens.”
Without The Mine Tavern, Bishop said he received unemployment before he started working a glass factory in Logan. He said he “couldn’t have been happier” with The Mine Tavern’s reopening.
“We missed y’all,” Bishop said.
Norway, alongside his parents Becky and Ron Norway, who co-own The Mine Tavern, expressed their gratitude before the ribbon cutting.
“I want to say thank you to everyone that came here today; everyone that came to the benefits, everyone that offered phone calls, messages, a hug, a shoulder to cry on, or a cold beer,” Patrick Norway said. “We just can’t thank you guys enough as a community and as family, friends. We love you all, and we’re so excited to share this beautiful place with you guys again.”
The Mine Tavern returns to a full menu today, Tuesday, July 21 — “Tuesday night wing night is happening,” Patrick Norway said. And it won’t be long before The Mine Tavern again offers daily specials; hosts live music, bingo, karaoke, Wii game night and more, he added.
Stay up to date on The Mine Tavern’s reopening on its Facebook page.
