Righteous Room operators opening "neighborhood bar" in OTR

Cincinnati bar entrepreneurs - Four Entertainment Group (4EG) are spreading to the Gateway Quarter of Over-the-Rhine late this summer in the form of a 900 sq ft pub called The Lackman.

The eighth project on a list that has included The Righteous Room, The Stand and Mount Adams Pavilion, The Lackman is intended to be a "neighborhood bar" for the growing community in the Gateway Quarter, 4EG partner Bob Deck said.

While many of their other projects feature dance floors and bustling weekend crowds, The Lackman will be styled as a classic corner pub with wood trim, televisions for sporting events, a selection of craft beers and an "eclectic jukebox," Deck said.

"It's going to be a corner bar that we hope will anchor the progression of that neighborhood," Deck said. "The kind of place you can meet friends for happy hour or sample a couple of beers and watch the game."

Deck said he hopes the bar will provide a sense of place for those who live in the OTR gateway quarter and also play off the success of Senate, an eatery that opened there this spring, to attract more visitors to OTR.

"Hopefully the places that are going in down there will feed off of each other and encourage people to come to the area," Deck said. "It's set up to be a destination area."

The pub will be located in The Lackman Lofts Building, which was recently renovated and parceled into condominiums. It once housed a brewery and pub during the golden days of OTR, Deck said. The Lackman will be the second establishment, after Senate, to open in the Gateway Quarter with the financial and logistical support of 3CDC, the development group that is driving a massive redevelopment of that area, 3CDC development manager Adam Gelter said.

He said his group approached 4EG about the project after they worked together to open the Righteous Room in downtown Cincinnati last year. In both projects 3CDC provided a loan, assisted with planning issues and helped to secure necessary permits, Gelter said.

Gelter said 3CDC is in the early stages of playing the same role for other bar and eatery projects in the Gateway Quarter.

Writer: Henry Sweets
Photography by Scott Beseler