'We want to nail it': Plans in motion to reopen closed eateries, a bar venue at Wrigley Center

It may not be long before the northern half of the Wrigley Center shuttered in late February is back open.

The bars and eateries closed under Wrigley Hall Entertainment fewer than three months ago, while commercial businesses on the south side have remained open.

During last Friday’s Art Hop event in downtown, however, visitors got an early preview of a reopening — albeit scaled-down and more singularly under only the Wrigley Center name.

“I didn’t build this to be empty. And do we have a lot of interest? Yes. We have a lot of interested people. … There’s so many possibilities here,” said developer Larry Jones. “The question I keep getting asked is like, ‘Well, why did I build this in Port Huron?’ For one, because Port Huron is a small community. But this community, we deserve this. We deserve to have this. The thing is we can’t open it huge. We have to open it small.”

Previously, Wrigley Hall ran the venues as the Warehouse, Stage Lounge, and Roof Taps bar venues, as well as a café with several eateries. It opened last summer but closed suddenly this winter

Now, the word “hall” is no longer on the north side exterior of the building, where it says, “The Wrigley,” and organizers said plans are in motion to get at least one of the venues back open for regular business and restauranteurs back in the eateries, while equipping the remaining venues for booked events and gatherings.

Music emanated from the northern half of the Wrigley on Friday — a sign with an arrow pointing to “the bar” further beckoning visitors in.

One of the four eatery spots was lit up with No Forks Given, and only two Wrigley staffers were on to man the bar: The bartender and Matt Birkett, the Wrigley’s manager.

Previously manager under Wrigley Hall, Birkett said he’d returned the previous Monday to help clean up the site and prepare it for Art Hop.

He said he had identified some other past staff he wanted to bring back and expected they’d begin to set up a realistic timeline to return to business this week, while also honoring booked events and preparing to schedule more.

Some of the effort included a rebranding for the space and setting up a website. On Friday, Birkett said they didn’t have basic contact information, though by Monday, he pointed those interested in booking an event to thewrigleycenter@gmail.com.

Events, banquets, weddings, class reunions, and holiday parties were somethings they’d only begun to expand into previously as Wrigley Hall, Birkett said, adding, “The previous thought was we didn’t want to be closing down different bars, that we were going to draw from the Metro Detroit area.”

But he said expos were something “we really did well with,” and they were open to booking more as they work out timelines and schedules.

Jones said he thought “Port Huron can support 10 to 12 events a year,” and that the Wrigley would do well to capitalize on bookings of its own. He envisioned a blues month, or a Margaritaville month or country month.

To maintain the center’s liquor license since Wrigley Hall’s closure, Jones said they’ve worked with Senior Tequila to run a bar once weekly, admitting only “tenants and local people knew that it was open.”

Moving forward, the developer said their hoping to tap into help from consultants and other partners, such as someone who wants to use Wrigley space for cooking classes.

But Jones has been open about not wanting to run businesses himself and said he hoped to have others with the right vision in charge.

“We have a lot of interested parties that want to come in and they’ve got a lot of ideas,” he said. “… I’m kind of like the silent boss. I want to be able to let the professionals run it.”

Overall, other parts of the development have continued to take shape, organizers said, despite Wrigley Hall’s closure.

The indoor golf business Tee It Up has been in operation at the Wrigley since late this winter, and Jones said a local soap store was also filling a commercial space.

Birkett pointed to the development’s rock wall also being “almost complete.”

Of the center overall, he said, “I know we will be open this summer. I know that the community is excited about it from this. We didn’t advertise, and you see the people constantly in and out getting social district drinks. And the foot traffic’s been great, but we want to nail it.”

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: 'We want to nail it': Plans in motion to reopen Wrigley Center bar, eateries