The owners of Skybar requested for the approval of a balcony expansion that will feature new bathrooms, a waterfall and a fire fountain. The expansion passed after some discussion by a unanimous vote.
“You can’t just have a big room,” said co-owner Pat Grider. “People come in and just don’t enjoy it unless you have a supernational band. When I told [my mom] I was going to open a bar she said, ‘It can’t be a bar, it has to be an entertainment venue.’ My mom was actually right because that’s what brings the students in is entertainment.”
According to Grider Skybar has a current capacity of 2,500. It was said that this capacity is almost never met with the exception of big SEC games. For this reason, the owners wanted to expand the top deck and make it a more comfortable, inviting place for those who don’t enjoy the bar side of the entertainment.
The top-deck is currently a small venue that overlooks the bar’s dumpster. It is also far from a women’s restroom and gets little attention from weekly customers. The expansion will give the top-deck more seating and standing space, as well as an additional women’s restroom on that level.
The waterfall and its brick wall are an important part of this spectacle as the owners hope it will be the center of pictures for customers. Along with that, the expansion makes for a great picture-taking opportunity as it will overlook the campus.
“We’re going to bring in a waterfall expert to make it real nice,” Grider said. “This project kind of solves all of our problems at one time. It gives us more seating, more restrooms for women, but it also makes it more of a fun place to go. So on nights when we don't even get close to capacity people will want to go up there and see the waterfall and sit down.”
Grider also said the extra restrooms are necessary. Skybar currently has the minimum number of required restrooms, which is one for each gender. Grider said he prefers to add another restroom to prevent long lines and specifically females having to leave their friends being alone for too long.
The expansion, however, will not up the capacity according to Grider. He said the capacity will only increase by approximately 20. This is because as the expansion gives more seating, the owners hope to add more entertainment pieces such as pool tables on the lower levels.
Councilman Brett Smith of Ward 4 was concerned with the openness of the new expansion as it will hang over the lower sidewalk and leave parked cars exposed to things falling off the top levels. Grider said there is a no-tolerance policy as far as this behavior goes and any person to participate in such behavior will be banned from the entire venue.
Grider said he wishes the expansion could be finished by Auburn University’s spring break, but will more than likely be finished by graduation so that current seniors will still be able to enjoy its new perks.
“What we were considering tonight was allowing them to build an outdoor venue,” Mayor Ron Anders said. “Ultimately the council decided to do that. I hope that any institution whos primary source is selling alcohol and their primary customers are college students, would do everything possible to make sure they’re providing a safe environment for that to occur in. I would strongly suggest and expect that the owners of that establishment are doing just that.”
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