FARMINGTON — A new pub is set to open on Main Street later this month, and in everything from brews to construction, the owner is committed to the locality, which he expects to overflow into the clientele.

“Because of the size of the bar, and the way it’s being built — everything in here is pretty much reclaimed — I think it will have the small-town, close pub feel,” Tuck’s Ale House owner Nate Morin said. “It’s going to be a full-service bar, but a lot of the beer end of it is going to be ranged towards Maine breweries.”

Tuck’s is just two doors down from Java Joe’s Cafe in a storefront that was formerly a computer repair and networking business. Morin, who also owns Black Bear Graphics, began the renovation of the building in July after buying the space in late spring. The pub is set to open by the end of the month.

The outside of the pub has been refaced with a stone front, wood-framed entryway and large windows.

Stepping inside is like entering a time warp into 19th-century Farmington. Local carpenter Dustin Brophy, in a nod to local history, has used reclaimed wood and other raw materials gathered from around Franklin County.

The entire right side of the small space is taken up by a large bar. The top of the bar was made from wood planks salvaged from a Temple barn that was built in the 1700s. The foot rail was salvaged from iron rails that were used on train tracks in the area.

Advertisement

The left wall is faced in wooden planks that Morin and Brophy got from the University of Maine at Farmington when a storage barn was torn down on campus to make room for a new biomass heating plant. Against the wooden wall stand two long church pews salvaged from a Lewiston church, which will serve as seating at four wooden tables that Brophy is handcrafting.

“We’re doing something different than ordering a bunch of plywood, (laying) it out and hanging a Tom Brady shirt on the wall and saying you have a bar,” Brophy said.

Morin said the name of the bar itself came from a Civil War surgeon who owned the building in the 1850s, Cyrus Tuck. The decor in the pub will feature historical photos and artifacts from the Farmington area, Morin said. Morin thinks the historic and reclaimed atmosphere that he and Brophy have curated will dictate Tuck’s clientele — which they expect to be diverse.

“It’s a lot smaller. It’s a lot cozier. I think we’ll build our own different clientele from college students, to professors to everyone else in town,” Morin said.

Local beers on tap are set to include brews from Tumbledown Brewing Co., of Farmington, Oak Pond Brewery, of Skowhegan, and Bigelow Brewing Co., also of Skowhegan.

It’s been four years since Farmington has had a new watering hole, since the Roost opened in 2012. Both Morin and the Roost’s manager, Mel Cushman, think there is more than enough room downtown for a new bar.

Advertisement

“We’re very excited. Farmington is a big enough, diverse enough community that a fourth bar can’t hurt. It will only help make the Farmington (downtown) better,” Cushman said.

Morin said bar capacity is expected to be around 50 to 60 people, an occupancy level that he said would add to the cozy feel of a pub. Brophy, who has been working in Tuck’s regularly over the last few months, noticed that the interest the pub is generating seems to be in an older demographic.

“I had a guy walk in the other day, and he started taking his coat off before he looked around and realized we weren’t open yet,” Brophy said. “It’s a much older demographic that feels like they can come in here, because it’s transparent and it’s street-level, and it’s not like a dark, dirty old bar. It’s been a lot of very positive feedback.”

Lauren Abbate — 861-9252

labbate@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @Lauren_M_Abbate

 


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.