The bar was formerly licensed to accommodate only 378 people. It has now expanded to include an outdoor patio that overlooks Kirkwood Avenue above Jimmy John’s.
Chris Creel has been working at the bar since last summer and said he’s watched all of the construction through the months.
“The patio was planned so that it allows 20 more people in the bar,” Creel said.
Creel said the ceiling was also raised to make it higher, creating a more spacious feeling in the bar. Black and white tiles in the front of the bar were replaced with glazed brick.
New bar tops use wood re-purposed from the IU basketball floor, but the ceiling over the bar top remains iconically full of underwear, looming over those who walk up to buy a drink.
Creel said construction for the bar began two weeks after graduation and concluded three weeks ago. The construction also extended to the Jimmy John’s below the bar. Mary Belcher, the sandwich shop’s general manager, said as the construction company also worked on the store’s outdoor patio on Upstairs’ dime.
“It’s still the same size (Jimmy John’s) patio, it’s just newly constructed,” Belcher said.
Creel also noted that the bar’s new outdoor lighting has been constructed in accordance with a city code that seeks to prevent light pollution. The light fixtures on the patio face downward, creating less light pollution than if the lights aimed outward or upward.
James Roach, the city’s Development Services Manager said the purpose of the code was two-fold.
“It’s about conservation and energy efficiency, but also about avoiding light pollution,” Roach said.
Light pollution is created when artificial light beams upward and obscures views of the natural sky.
“The code says the purpose is to curtail the degradation of (the night sky),” Roach said.
The code is only applicable to construction or light fixtures that are being constructed or replaced after 2007. That’s why the Upstairs Pub made efforts to create lighting that reduced light pollution.
“We were one of the only bars on Kirkwood without a patio,” Creel said.
