INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - How long does it take to move an entire historic bar - and all its fixings - and rebuild it in a new location?
For the bar at The Canterbury Hotel, 30 days.
That mahogany paneling, cozy seating, chandeliers, bar stools and side tables all have new life at The Stutz Business Center.
Here’s how an entire bar moving uptown comes to be.
In June, Indianapolis businessman Turner Woodard sold The Canterbury Hotel to Columbus, Ohio-based Rockbridge Capital. The company is investing $10 million to redesign and renovate the 12-story, 99-room hotel. That reopening is planned for November as the Le Méridien Indianapolis Canterbury Hotel brand.
As part of the deal, Rockbridge agreed to give Woodard anything from the Canterbury, 123 S. Illinois St., that they were going to discard or that wouldn’t be part of the new hotel.
“I asked if I could have the lamps from atop the bar and they said I could have the entire bar,” Woodard said in an email. “That’s when the light went on.”
So, the bar was his. Then, Woodard purchased additional items to complement the bar, like the chandeliers, bar stools and side tables.
He has several other historic properties and a team of workers skilled at rebuilding and restoring. The bar was dismantled into many pieces, put in a moving truck and transferred to The Stutz, 212 W. 10th St.
It’s now located in The Car Gallery on the second floor in a room that event planners will use to host cocktail parties, surrounded by exotic vintage sports cars.
“Anytime I can salvage and restore a piece of Indiana history, I’m all in and up for the challenge,” Woodard told The Indianapolis Star (https://indy.st/1pt9lQ6 ).
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Raymond James Stutz Artists Open House, Friday and Saturday.
The public is invited to stop by and have a drink at the new (historic old) bar.
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Information from: The Indianapolis Star, https://www.indystar.com
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