Just a few weeks after the grand opening of the new Fieldhouse Bar & Grill in Iowa City, another iconic Iowa City bar is set to make its return to the Ped Mall. Five years after its closure, The Union will be revived at a brand new location!
The Original Union Bar
According to an article from the Daily Iowan, The Union Bar first opened at 121 E College St in Iowa City back in 1993. For 27 years, the popular party spot was known for its “live music, birthday pitchers, and frenzied atmosphere,” but in the spring of 2020, it was announced that the bar was permanently closed. Although many believed it was the pandemic that forced The Union to shut its doors, the closure was actually already planned. The pandemic only sped up the process.
Today, the building that once housed The Union is home to two very different businesses. The Stuffed Olive and Double Tap both opened in 2022, with owner Darin Beck telling the Daily Iowan at the time:
“It’s definitely a changing of the eras. People who remember the Union are going to be, I think, pleasantly surprised at how radically different it is. They won’t even recognize it at all.”…