Power Plant Live's new bar a 'celebration of beer’

A new bar featuring more than 75 different canned beers and live music is scheduled to open at Power Plant Live by the end of the month.

Luckie’s Liquors, aimed at having the traditional feel of a long and narrow Baltimore rowhome-style bar, will debut April 29 in 3,200 square feet of space at the downtown entertainment district.

The space, attached to Luckie’s Tavern, was previously unoccupied. Power Plant developer Cordish Cos.  and the ownership group of Luckie’s are spending around $500,000 in building out the bar, said Reed Cordish, a Cordish vice president. Cordish Cos. is an investor in the bar.

Luckie’s Liquors seeks to have a different atmosphere than most of the other Power Plant clubs, which mainly cater to a dancing crowd.

Ben Brengle, who operates Luckie’s along with Steve Twilley, said he has visited salvage yards and craft shops across Baltimore “to fill the bar with original Baltimore material.” Several lamp shades inside the bar, for example, were found at a local junkyard.

“It’s a different approach,” said Brengle, who described the new venue as more of a “dive bar.”

The bar will also serve peanuts to consumers who can toss the shells onto the floor.

The concept for Luckie’s Liquors is partially centered around the recent wave of growth surrounding the beer industry, Cordish and Brengle said. The <st1:country-region>U.S.</st1:country-region> craft brewing industry, for example, saw sales grow nearly 9 percent in 2010 to $7.6 billion, according to the Brewers Association, a national trade group representing the industry.

“It’s about the return of the beer drinker,” Cordish said of Luckie’s Liquors. “Beer is making a great comeback. I would think to a large degree it is a celebration of beer.”

Both Cordish and Brengle shied away from calling Luckie’s Liquors a bar specializing in craft beer. Brengle said beer will be priced between $3 to $5 a can. A limited menu of hot dogs and hamburgers will also be available.

Luckie’s Liquors will have a garage-type opening door so people can flow out to Power Plant’s outdoor patio near a stage.

Meanwhile, an overall $11 million renovation is underway at Power Plant Live. Cordish said a May 11 press conference with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is planned to announce more new openings at Power Plant Live. Joe Squared Pizza & Bar, on North Avenue, has been in talks to open a second location in the space currently occupied by Two Boots, a New York pizzeria.