Full Steam Ahead for Trackside’s Rebuilding

Posted: Wednesday, August 25, 2010 12:36 pm | Updated: 1:15 pm, Wed Aug 25, 2010.

Decatur Assistant City Manager Lyn Menne told the Decatur Now internet radio show that the City approved a rebuilding plan for the venerable Decatur watering hole on College Avenue, Trackside Tavern, after it has sat vacant since burning to the ground over a year-and-a-half ago.

Menne said that the Downtown Development Authority reviewed the plans for the re-build at their latest meeting, approved them, and sent them on to the permitting department.  That department subsequently released the Trackside owner to “go ahead and get started,” according to Menne.

The project had been held up due to the insurance companies working through the details of “who was responsible for what,” Menne said.  “It was a complicated process.”

According the the Facebook page “Trackside Tavern in Decatur, Georgia is Coming Back” a few more details may need to be taken care of before construction actually starts. “The current holdup is with the Ga Dept of Transportation – since College Ave is a state highway (Hwy 155), their approval is needed to do any work within 20 ft of the roadway. And, when the state finally gives approval, they will only let them work on the building at night because they have to close one of the lanes for safety,” the page says.

“We look forward to getting those plywood barricades down,” Menne told Decatur Now in reference to the current temporary condition of the Trackside building, “and getting those storefronts rebuilt.”

According to the Facebook site: “Trackside Tavern, the oldest tavern in Decatur, GA, has been closed since Jan. 20, 2009 when a fire destroyed most of the building it occupied since 1982.”