Liberty Bell is closing down.

3,734 Views | 5 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by TallTexan
TallTexan
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For those who haven't heard, Liberty Bell in downtown is closing down.

https://www.facebook.com/libertybellbar/videos/1631841436893580/
PurpleOut
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Staff
I don't live in Nac, and didn't get to go until my last trip a few months ago. Seemed like a cool place that everyone enjoyed from what I had seen, but the drinks and food I had when I was there were terrible. Loved the location though, sitting with open doors to the brick road.
TallTexan
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PurpleOut said:

I don't live in Nac, and didn't get to go until my last trip a few months ago. Seemed like a cool place that everyone enjoyed from what I had seen, but the drinks and food I had when I was there were terrible. Loved the location though, sitting with open doors to the brick road.


I've only had it once and dont remember the food, but the location and atmosphere were pretty sweet. With the building already redone, I bet it won't take long for another business to move in.
nacluth
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That's tough. The food I had there was inconsistent, but honestly I didn't go much because it's not for families. I had hoped that it would be a staple of downtown, but I guess not. I wonder if Fredonia Brewery and the hotel opening back up hurt it's older clientele.
Ryan
Kinnaird Guitars
TallTexan
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nacluth said:

That's tough. The food I had there was inconsistent, but honestly I didn't go much because it's not for families. I had hoped that it would be a staple of downtown, but I guess not. I wonder if Fredonia Brewery and the hotel opening back up hurt it's older clientele.
That's what my wife and I thought, but it seemed like everytime I was in town it was packed, which is why we only ended up their once or twice. Our downtown is a bit of a conundrum. Nice downtown, but no huge draws to consistently have traffic IMO. Heck, a few of the antique shops are only open on Saturday's last I checked.


Someone who did a really good job of this is our friends in Farmeville, VA, where Longwood is located. That was a really cool town with a downtown twice the size of Nac with only 8000 people. But they had nice antique & furniture stores that would draw people in from across the state. Really walkable downtown.

One of my dreams if one of my businesses ever takes off is to help revitalize downtown Nac to make it a destination for people. I'm constantly taking mental notes in the small towns I stop in across the country, maybe one day we'll have a signature downtown along the lines of Fredricksburg & Jefferson where we draw people from all over the state and sometimes the world to come down for the weekend.


P.S, if anyone from the city of Nac gov reads this blog, the official tagline of Nacogdoches should be "Texas Starts Here". Just some free advice.
nacluth
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Good ideas. Downtown is so much better than it was 10 years ago that I'm pretty happy with the direction it's been heading (though the Liberty Bell news is disheartening). My guess is the new 9 Flags bar is killing it right now, and we just can't support two nice bars easily.

A few years ago Nac started rebranding with "Texas Begins Here". Apparently Texas starts here was being used somewhere else. It hasn't fully become our official slogan because there's push back from the people that love "Oldest Town in Texas." Gotta keep San Augustine in line you know. Our CVB has been doing better, but like SFA athletics need to take the next step into a big time tourist town. Keep the ideas flowing.
Ryan
Kinnaird Guitars
TallTexan
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nacluth said:

Good ideas. Downtown is so much better than it was 10 years ago that I'm pretty happy with the direction it's been heading (though the Liberty Bell news is disheartening). My guess is the new 9 Flags bar is killing it right now, and we just can't support two nice bars easily.

A few years ago Nac started rebranding with "Texas Begins Here". Apparently Texas starts here was being used somewhere else. It hasn't fully become our official slogan because there's push back from the people that love "Oldest Town in Texas." Gotta keep San Augustine in line you know. Our CVB has been doing better, but like SFA athletics need to take the next step into a big time tourist town. Keep the ideas flowing.
Totally agree. Downtown is on the upswing and has been making slow incremental improvements. One of the things I'm struck by when I travel is the number of foreign visitors. Sure, national parks have them in spades, but we were at a small ghostown outside Barstow last weekend for their bluegrass festival, & I'd estimate 25% of the visitors where foreign tourists based on languages spoken.

With the National Forests so close, I'd love to turn Nac into that kind of destination, where when people want to see Texas, seeing the oldest town in Texas is high on their list. Personally, I'd also love to see those National Forests turned into a true National Park since those things practically market themselves, but that's a different discussion for a different day.

The Liberty Bell news is disheartening, but I hope somebody will take advantage of the renovated building & launch something new quickly. One thing that struck me when we were in South Boston, VA, a small town in the middle of nowhere, is that everystore had turned their walls into a boutique of some sort. So you'd get dinner, but they also had country chic items to buy, or bows for little girls or something. It was a very unique way of generating two kinds of traffic that fed off each other.

But it's definitely headed in the right direction with the Fredonia renovation & other stores popping up. Nac/SFA have so much potential to be the kind of nice, small hometowns that people tired of the rat race flock to. That'd be a big win for both parties.
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