I’ve been getting questions about The Coach lately; if I’ve heard anything about how repairs are progressing and when it might reopen. Last week I finally had a chance to stop down there and chat with owner Fritz Sierk, who filled me in on how things are going.
It’s been almost eight months since the devastating St. Patrick’s Day fire that tore through The Coach. It started behind the bar, and while the building remained structurally sound, the heat, smoke and water damage meant that the whole place had to be gutted. It’s been a long process cleaning it out, removing the destroyed equipment and furnishings, and drawing up the new plans, and there were several hurdles along the way, but construction finally began in earnest about three weeks ago.
The interior of the bar is still pretty much stripped down to the beams and studs, which was kind of sad to see. And you can still see a lot of fire damage (including charred beams from the last time it burned, in 1969). But Fritz’s vision of what “The Coach 2.0” (as he called it) will be like brought it back to life for me.
For starters, the bar area will be two feet bigger to accommodate larger sinks. The bathrooms “are going to be huge,” Fritz said, expanding into the former “smoking hut” space. A new overhang on the back deck will accommodate smokers, keeping them mostly out of the weather. A second, smaller, fenced-in patio will be added on the east end of the building. And perhaps most exciting of all, Fritz will be installing two garage-door windows overlooking the patios — similar to the big window at the Mary Wee Pub across the street. The pool table and darts will be back, and all of the TVs, including the four big ones on the west wall which can be used individually or stitched together as a huge screen…