After a tear-stricken closing night at Mars Pub and Arcade, six regulars decided they didn’t want to see their favorite bar close.
“All of us looked around at each other,” said Dave Michael, one of the new owners, “and said, ‘What can we do to turn this around?’”
So they bought the bar, made some renovations and reopened three weeks later.
Michael, 38, swept his arm across his bar, pointing at new neon lights that glinted off his wide eyes.
Mars Pub and Arcade was once known for its backroom laser tag, but the previous owners did away with the laser tag earlier this year. The new owners remade the bar’s image, adding stages and spaces for local artwork.
The team built an art gallery where local artists can display and sell their work in the room where laser tag equipment was once stored.
The bar, which reopened on Oct. 11, now has a stage for bands, which is raised off the ground and equipped with a full sound system and LED light display. Michael said the bar is planning to host live performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
Michael said they built a restroom backstage for bands and are adding a washer, dryer and shower soon.
“We’re trying to find out every way to make this great for musicians,” said Michael, who is a member of local band Bang Bang Boom.
One of the bar managers, James Barratt, pointed out a second bar by the stage, which will only sell cans of beer. It was made by bartender Travis Martin so that “everyone can have a beer during a show,” Barratt said.
Other improvements include a fresh coat of paint, a new food menu and chalkboard walls in the bathroom so people will have erasable spaces to write on, rather than the walls. All renovations were done in three weeks.
“We basically lived here,” Barratt said. “I never want to see another Hot Pocket.”
Still, Barratt was enthusiastic to help rebuild and reopen the place that kept his favorite beer, Beck’s, in the bar just for him.
“It’s like a second living room kind of place,” he said. “It sucks when your living room closes down.”
Patrons and band members said they’re excited that Mars won’t be closing for good. Ian Bernacett, guitarist of Thee Holy Ghosts, which frequents Mars, said he’s stoked that the bar reopened.
“It’s the only place in town where we can book our own shows,” said Bernacett, 22.
For now, employees and owners are working together to continue improvements, Michael said, adding that the bar is employee-owned and operated.
“Everybody has a say in how it operates,” Michael said. “It’s all a learning process.”
Barratt agreed.
“We wanted it to be a place that takes care of the bands, takes care of the patrons, takes care of the staff,” he said. “We want to do things the right way.”
Contact Kathryn Varn at kvarn@alligator.org.
Conrad Wysocki, 22, UF forest resources and conservation junior, tends bar at Mars Pub on Wednesday night.
Gainesville resident Josh Thompson, 23, drinks a mug of Big Nose beer at Mars Pub and Arcade on Wednesday night.
