Bars & Bands

First look: New music hall to be built in downtown Worcester

  • Posted by Bars & Bands June 11, 2021 - Filed in Entertainment - #Niche Hospitality Group  #Cliff Rucker  #Railers Tavern  - 6,758 views

    A new music hall that could hold up to 500 is proposed to be built behind the former Railers Tavern at 90 Commercial St., Worcester, according to public records and a press release.

    The music hall is part of a larger development named Off the Rails. Off the Rails will be “a one-of-a-kind restaurant, music hall, and beer garden,” according to a press release Monday.

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    Off the Rails is owned by Cliff Rucker, owner of the Worcester Railers, the former Railers Tavern building and the Worcester Ice Center, among other properties.

    Off the Rails replaces Still & Stir Cocktail Bar, which replaced Railers Tavern in September 2019, according to an article on MassLive, and closed during the pandemic. Still & Stir, as well as Railers Tavern, were managed by Niche Hospitality Group, owner of Worcester restaurants such as The Fix Burger Bar and Mezcal Tequila Cantina. According to the press release, Chris Besaw is the managing partner of Off the Rails.

     

    The new music hall is proposed to be built attached and behind the current restaurant. Plans for it will go before the Worcester Planning Board on June 16. (All images from the Application & Site Plan.)

     

    The music hall will be a 4,205 square feet, single story building rising 25 feet. 

     

    Outside the music hall will be a beer garden patio that could seat 60 people.

     

    Attached to the back of the original tavern, the entrance to a music hall will face the parking lot  between Commercial Street and the back of the Palladium. The parking lot will continue to be used for outdoor concerts for up to 10,000 spectators.

     

    The open music hall will connect to the restaurant and will have a bar at one end, a stage at the other.

    According to the press release, the renovated tavern will open on July 17th. “Construction activities on the music venue are scheduled to begin in mid-June,” the release said. “The project is targeted for completion by December.”

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