BUILDING A BUSINESS: The Rusty Barrel Lounge will open doors in downtown Clinton
Dec. 13—CLINTON — The Rusty Barrel Lounge is set to open at 224 Fifth Ave. South, the former home of Vinnie's Lounge, after the first of the year.
"We had looked at it a few times, and we just thought it's sad that this building is just sitting here, because with all the stuff they're trying to do downtown, you know, I just felt like it was probably a good opportunity to do something here," said The Rusty Barrel's owner Lindsay Mussmann Morhardt, who now owns the building with her husband, Justin Morhardt.
The couple closed on the building in August and began work on it the next month.
"We're kind of going for a classier feel," Lindsay says.
The Lounge won't be open until 2 a.m. as other bars are, instead being available to people who are interested in a casual drink after dinner or a group going out to enjoy a glass of wine and live acoustic music for the evening.
The kitchen won't be operational, but Lindsay says they might offer something like charcuterie boards tailored to complement whatever the customer is drinking.
The Morhardts considered numerous themes for the business before finally deciding to make it into a whiskey lounge with large sepia-toned photos on the wall depicting life during Prohibition.
The name of the Lounge began with the certainty that they wanted the word "barrel" in it because the couple's original plans included wine barrels for tables. Those proved difficult to find, as did a word to precede "barrel." It was simply a rusted tin they had at home that sparked the idea for the rest of the name.
Lindsay's aunt, Nancy Mussmann, has been helping to get the business started. Mussmann was once the owner of Upper Mississippi Brewing Co. in Clinton. Lindsay has been receiving phone calls from curious community members who, she says, tell her they've heard she's opening an establishment with a similar atmosphere.
"Upper Mississippi was a pretty popular place," Lindsay says, "and so we're kind of, I think, attracting the crowd that missed that."
For the past few months, Justin has been replacing flooring and patching walls, painting, and taking care of water damage due to the sprinkler system that had frozen and burst.
They've installed a jukebox, a dartboard, and new lighting. A hand-painted gold-leaf sign made by Chris Shannon, of Clinton, hangs on the wall.
Lindsay says they they still need to move some things around, train new bartenders, and put seating in the outdoor area so that drinks may comfortably be enjoyed there.
Besides working on this new business venture, the Morhardts also own a food truck called Glazey Daze. Lindsay is a Realtor, they own an excavating business, River City Enterprises LLC, and are the parents of five children as well.
"The real estate will be my full-time job," Lindsay says, "and then this will hopefully be my fun project."
