New Downtown Bar Brings New Concept To City

Originally posted on Keloland

Change is coming to downtown Sioux Falls this summer.

What’s left of the downtown mainstay Skelly’s closes next month.

In most of its place will be a two-story bar/restaurant with a different feel for Sioux Falls.

Whether it was for a St. Patrick’s Day party or a quick drink, people in Sioux Falls have gathered at Skelly’s for decades.

“There were so many memories and good times had at Skelly’s,” PAve General Manager John Geiken said.

However, now Geiken and Aaron Hultgren hope people will make new memories at PAve.

The building will include two bars: one on the main floor and the other on the second floor.

“If you went to Minneapolis or Kansas City, you would realize that a lot of the popular bars have this kind of concept,” Geiken said.

The bar on the main floor, called Factory Avenue, will have a more industrial feel. Roxbury Avenue will be on the top floor.

“That’s more of an entertainment vibe,” PAve General Contractor Aaron Hultgren said.

Roxbury will have special lighting that can be changed to different colors.

“We have a raised seating area that can double as an entertainment place,” Hultgren said.

Another unusual feature of the building is just how many bathrooms it will have–13 for women and 11 for men.

“There’s a lot of square footage and tables. We should be able to fit a lot of bodies in here,” Hultgren said.

The 11,000 square foot building will also likely include a rooftop patio come 2017.

The business also plans to bring unique drinks and food to the area.

“We took a lot of inspiration from the West Coast and East Coast. We’re not trying to compete with our amazing neighbors,” Geiken said.

A downtown neighborhood that Geiken says is being reinvented.

“It has a new life, and it has all the buzz right now as far as this is where people want to go,” Geiken said.

Skelly’s is still open in a building south of PAve, but will close once the new business opens.