03/28/2025
Life update (from Broc Curry - I bought another bar!! The Ottawa Tavern
For those that don't know I was the proprietor of the Ottawa Tavern from 2016 - 2020. "The OT" has a long celebrated life in Toledo starting at the original location on Bancroft which sadly burned down in the 90s. Fast forward to the mid 2000's and the tavern was reborn at the current location of 1815 Adams Street in beautiful Uptown Toledo. The OT was a major part of the Uptown revival during this time. By the time I originally took the bar over in 2016 it was in a bit of rough shape. I feel like over my 4 years we were able to breath new life into the space and made it a staple in the Toledo music scene. Around late 2019 I decided to pause my bar business life and focus more on building my online and brick and mortar record stores. Our last events at the OT were in Jan of 2020 and then shortly after we all know what came next.
Fast forward to 2025 and the opportunity arsose to not only buy the bar back but also to buy the building. I already own the building directly next door to the OT so this only made sense in terms of opening up even more big picture plans for both buildings.
I am also the guy behind Frankies Toledo a venue that I have been involved with since the late 90s. When we reopened Frankies in 2023 I was not fully sure how much we would be open. For the first 18 months we were taking things pretty slowly. In the more recent months Frankies has gotten to the point that we are now open 12-14 times a month. We have seen the demand for live music which brings us full circle back to The Ottawa Tavern. Similar to how we handled the relaunch of Frankies I expect that The OT be a slow but steady process. Babysteps are important to me because outside of the bars and concerts I also have my stores that take up much of my time. I do have a small but dedicated and passionate team that also want to see both the bars and the music scene flourish.
The exact future of the bar operations at OT are still a bit up in the air BUT for now we have taken the recent weeks to clean the space up and "whitebox" it so that whichever direction the bar goes it will be set up for sucsess.
The only planned event at the moment at The Ottawa Tavern is a pop up event happening this Tuesday, April 1st at 7:00PM. (I am a sucker for April Fools Day so I had to!). Ian Reiter will be doing a special April Fools Day edition of Emo Night (event in comments). I still remember Ian and I brainstorming the idea for Emo Night at OT and am excited to have him want be a part of this new begining to what we feel will be a great future in a space that has meant so much to so many people over the years.
In the meantime if anyone would like to reach out via DM with ideas on what they would like to see for the future please feel free to reach out.
It means the world to me to be a part of our vibrant and diverse music community. Onward and upward. As always thank you for your support!
https://facebook.com/events/s/emo-night-returns-tuesday-apri/1308965370213442/
