Photograph by Amy Elisabeth Spasoff
General Manager Jack Keane (left) and Owner Stuart King (right)
Following the success of nationally recognized OTR bar Sundry and Vice, its owner Stuart King and general manager Jack Keane have announced they will open a new bar in Walnut Hills, called Comfort Station, this summer.
Part of the neighborhood’s revitalization, the bar will be housed in the former Public Comfort Station, at 791 E. McMillan St. The 100-year-old site once served as a combination rest area and bathing house along the once-bustling retail and transit corridor. King and the Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation have been working together to rehabilitate the building for use as a bar since 2014.
“Our team can’t wait to breathe new life into a building that at one time was vital to daily life in the area,” King says. “Comfort Station will be a return of the building’s roots and purpose, a spot along people’s journey to relax and rejuvenate.”
The bar will be partitioned into two spaces with independent concepts, utilizing the building’s original dividing walls for the women’s and men’s rooms. One portion, a light and airy space accessed through the previous women’s room entrance, will focus on daytime cocktails and coffee, with plenty of coworking and studying space, plus a large backyard patio with a seamless indoor-outdoor space. The other area, accessed through the former men’s room entrance, leads to a dimly lit basement bar with a nighttime cocktail program to match.
“The dual nature of the bar reflects the dichotomy of light and dark,” Keane says. “This idea of two sides and duality is reinforced in the design and our forward-thinking cocktail program devised for each space.”
Compared to its predecessor, the bar will offer a broader beverage program, including a wider selection of wines and large-format, sharable cocktails.
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