Editor’s note: This story originally was published on April 30, but now the reopening is just days away: May 17, according to the latest Facebook update. Enjoy.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) —

Community. Inclusion. Music. Play. Fun.

Those are words Theo Crouse-Mann uses to describe the Sly Grog Lounge.

The venue, a relaxed space that offered a lineup of local and touring bands, has been closed since a fire in December 2021.

“It’s a music venue and bar that’s a community arts space with retail. In a word: amalgamation,” Crouse-Mann, a co-owner, sitting in an open-air space on a community work day Tuesday.

 

The restored Sly Grog space is coming together, he said. Volunteer workdays have helped.

“The community involvement has been very… They came out of the woodwork,” Crouse-Mann said with a look of wonder. “The community has been very enthusiastic for us to continue.”

The donations have included more than labor.

“McDowell County Arts donated us a stage, and we possibly have Diana Wortham’s old stage coming,” Crouse-Mann said.

A grand reopening is planned for May 17.

The part of the venue where the fire broke out has been redone. The former piano lounge space will be the bar area. And the former bar space will become open space with a stage. There will be a covered open-air space for games, just like the old days.

While Crouse-Mann and company work to put the finishing touches on the space, they are still waiting on a certificate of occupancy.

“We’re pretty much on track for May 17,” he said.

Work is continuing next door, too, where partners Eric Controne and Laura Marquez are putting the finishing touches on their yet-unnamed retail space, which was formerly known as Foxy & Co.

“It’s going to be really cool resale stuff,” Controne said.

Vintage clothes, music-themed items that play along with whatever is happening next door.

“We’re just trying to tune into whoever the guests are going to be,” Controne said. “We want to be profitable and fun. We’re not going to be an overpriced posh boutique.”

Controne and Marquez have not decided on a name for the retail space.

“It’s a work in progress,” he said.

Marquez said she envisions the retail area as a creative space.

“I want people dressing up and having fun,” she said.

The next planned community workday at the Sly Grog is set to begin 11 a.m. May 6.