By Nicole Collins, Staff Writer
Just six months after opening, Woodruff’s downtown bar and restaurant Tap Three is expanding its space.
“We started the business small, with the intent all along to expand. We wanted to get a feel for the town, wanted to get some decent systems in place before trying to serve too many people,” said owner Ben Harrison.
Currently Tap Three occupies about 1,200 square feet, but the expansion will add another 1,400 square feet. “The new area will incorporate a public dining area and flex space that could be used for private and ticketed events if needed. The plans are to have a full-size stage with house sound and lighting to host some higher end ticked music events possibly. It would only be open on busy nights,” said Harrison.
Harrison Landscape Management, another one of Harrison’s local companies, will be doing most of the expansion work and Harrison said he would work with other local builders to complete the tasks that his team cannot.
Located at 102 S. Main St., the corner of Main and W. Georgia Streets, the restaurant will expand into the two adjacent buildings at 104 and 106 Main St, which Harrison also owns. As a result, the two long-term business tenants who occupied those spaces were notified that they would have to move.
Dr. Terri Bijeau, a family chiropractor who had been located at 106 S. Main St. for more than 20 years, moved her practice inside Spa Lenore starting on Oct. 1.
When she found out that she was going to have to find a new place for her practice, she said her first call was to another long-time Woodruff business owner, Samantha Barksdale of Spa Lenore.
Despite having only moved one block, Bijeau noted that some of her patients have had a difficult time finding her.
“I would have preferred to stay where I was, but this was a good alternative,” said Bijeau in regard to moving into Spa Lenore. She is currently welcoming new patients, walk-ins and appointments at her new location, 204 S. Main St.
Shorty’s Barber Shop that was located at 104 S. Main St. was another business affected by the expansion of Tap Three.
Owner Joe Suber recalled opening Shorty’s on June 27 in 1998, and that was his spot for 22 years. But when Suber officially moved out of his building at the end of November, he also ended his career as a barber. He was already semi-retired, working only three days a week, and he knew he couldn’t open a new shop working part time, so Suber decided to just “let it go and come on home.”
He understood that Harrison needed to expand Tap Three to accommodate his business.
“I enjoyed it. I’m just trying to put that behind me and move on. It was a chapter that ended in my life,” said Suber of his time owning Shorty’s Barber Shop.
Now Suber directs his former clients to the other downtown Woodruff barber shops, Scurry’s on Main and the new Hat’z Off Grooming Lounge.
A completion date has not been set for the expansion of Tap Three, but the existing space will remain open during the entire construction process.
“COVID-19 times has certainly not helped anyone in the industry, so we are in no hurry to make the expansion, but demolition is underway,” said Harrison. “It’s the least important thing on the agenda right now as we need to work on filling the space we have more consistently first.”
Author: Tracy Sanders
