2 Downtown Tuscaloosa Businesses Expanding After Neighbors Close

Two businesses in downtown Tuscaloosa's Temerson Square are set to grow, and the city council voted earlier this week to increase their maximum occupancies to reflect it.

As the Thread has previously reported, the downtown district on 4th Street lost a few tenants after Los Tarascos permanently closed a location they'd just launched there, and when Tavern 1831 closed a few months later after more than 15 years in business.

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On Tuesday night, the city council heard from the owners of two neighboring businesses to the ones that closed - Cliff Clark, the owner of Decades Pub, and Jeremy Wyatt, who owns the Copper Top bar.

Copper Top Expands to Maximum Size

Wyatt said Copper Top will take over the Tavern 1831 space to its west, adding seating and expanding the bar to accommodate it.

In a Tuesday night vote, their maximum occupancy was allowed to increase to 250 patrons - the highest amount allowed for a bar or club in the city of Tuscaloosa.

CopperTop previously maxed out at roughly 120 patrons, and 1831 was allowed about 100. The Tuscaloosa Police Department said last week they had no qualms with the occupancy increase after the Wyatts combined the two spaces.

Crowded bars downtown and on the Tuscaloosa Strip have been the years-long target of close scrutiny from TPD and the city council, but Chief Brent Blankley said he'd rather work with longtime downtown denizens like the Wyatts and Clarks than new faces.

"I'd rather have bar owners we already work with and have built rapport with than somebody new coming in and possibly having issues," Blankley said on May 6th. "Anything we've had come up, they've worked with us on it, and I'd rather have someone I know can work with us than having new ownership come in and have a bar that doesn't follow the rules."

Clarks Close One Business, Expand Another

Clark, who also ran 1831 with his wife Anne, said he is expanding Decades into the now-closed Mexican restaurant Los Tarascos, which was Don Tono's before that.

By combining the two footprints into one expanded Decades Pub, Clark asked the council to increase his maximum occupancy to 200 people, and they voted to do so.

In the May 6th committee meeting discussing these moves, Blankley said TPD had no issues with Decades because, although they certainly serve alcohol, the Clarks run a mostly lunch and dinner spot - they close at 10 p.m. every night but Friday and Saturday, and even then the doors shut before midnight.

Both votes passed on Tuesday night with five votes in favor of the expansions. District 4 Councilman Lee Busby voted against both, and District 2's Raevan Howard was not at the meeting.

For more coverage of restaurant and retail news and developments at City Hall, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.