[Electrical Porpoise]

Good news for The Booth fans...

TUSCALOOSA | The Tuscaloosa City Council cleared the way for The Booth, a lounge that served as a favorite watering hole for students during a 25-year run on the University Strip, to be reborn in downtown Tuscaloosa.

The Tuscaloosa City Council voted to grant a Downtown/Riverfront Overlay District permit to Downtown Entertainment LLC, doing business as The Booth. The bar will be in a former auto repair shop at 504 21st Avenue.

The council also granted overlay permits to 1831 Bar at 2304 Fourth St., a lounge in the former location of Johnny's Pub and Grub, and to Capstone Bank at 2301 University Blvd. for a major addition to its bank building.

The Booth will be in a building that formerly housed part of Campbell's Body Shop. Its opening will come as the city conducts major street and utility work on 21st Avenue.

'There's going to be a lot torn up around you for about a year,' Councilman Lee Garrison said. 'You need to understand that.'

Mayor Walt Maddox also warned that the construction could have a major impact on the business. The contractor has 365 days to complete the project and the scope of work will be similar to that performed on Paul W. Bryant Drive, he said.

The owners originally proposed a sidewalk café. But city staff members recommended against it. They felt the sidewalk wasn't wide enough there and forcing pedestrians around the tables and chair might create a safety hazard.

The 2,200-square-foot building will feature two large doors that can be rolled up to give the bar an open-air feel. But a railing will be installed so that customers cannot go in and out of the roll-up doors. They will be required to use the main entrance.

A permit was required because a business with a Class I lounge liquor license is a conditional use in the Downtown/Riverfront Overlay District and must have council approval. Also, council approval is required for any project in the district that requires more than $10,000 in renovation. The owners will invest about $200,000 in the building, architect Rex Veron said.

A lounge in the overlay district cannot be closer than 50 feet to another business with the same type of license and there may be no more than one lounge per block in the overlay district. The Booth meets that requirement.

When the Tuscaloosa Planning and Zoning Commission approved the permit, it required the owners to paint the south wall, which will be facing the city's new park, either with a mural or the same color as the masonry on the front of the building. Planning Commission members did not want the wall painted white.

'I don't want to get into the great mural debate tonight, but I think a solid color would be better,' Maddox said. 'It might look great now but what about five years down the road.'

The owners hope to open The Booth in time for the University of Alabama's spring football game on April 18.

In November 2006, the original The Booth on the Strip closed.

Architect Mike Ellis said Capstone Bank plans to demolish a 1992 addition to its stately, marble-clad bank building on University Boulevard, formerly Security Bank, and the bank's drive-through. A 15,000-square-foot brick building, which will serve as the bank's corporate headquarters, will replace it.

Ellis said the architecture in keeping with its surroundings and will feature a decorative, wrought iron balcony.

The bank's drive-through will be relocated to its rear with an entrance off Sixth Street. A small building will be constructed for the drive-through teller.

The 1831 Bar required no major renovation, but council approval was necessary because it is a lounge in the overlay district.

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