Did you know…the entire building we’re in has some pretty awesome history? It housed the first and oldest VFW post in existence (by the way, VFW stands for Veterans of Foreign Wars). Founded in 1899, this group has been there for veterans for over 100 years now and their meeting spot used to be our building! It seems quite fitting that as a community-loving coffee pub, we found our home here. You may have seen the proud members of the VFW still enjoying our space each year when we have them over for BBQ before they join the Veteran’s Day parade in downtown. The organization still carries on and you can learn more about their new upcoming home when you check out their website, http://www.vfwpost1.org/.
So what’s up with the building now? Rooster and Moon only occupies about a quarter of the space, and the rest…we met with our landlord to get you the facts about where we call home and why you should call it home as well…or at least your second living room.
It’s really simple, actually – the rest of the building is where lawyers work. Ya, you heard us right…lawyers. And you bet they’re lucky to get to work right above us. What lawyer could work without caffeine and alcohol easily available? Well, we wonder who in general could work like that, but anyways…continuing on…
We recently caught up with Peter Menges of Menges Law. He’s one of the four lawyers that together make up NG Properties LLC, which owns the entire building we’re in and makes them our landlords. We hope you’re asking what “NG” stands for, because it’s pretty cool – not guilty! He’s also one of our guests, just like you.
What they did to the building before we showed up was some great stuff: a full-on renovation and remodel of the place that included redoing the ceilings. It’s now higher and has none of the toxic “popcorn” stuff. Know what we’re talking about? Hate that stuff! They also put in new duct work that’s more efficient and gives that great downtown industrial look. Since one side of the building doesn’t have windows, they put in the coolest skylights we’ve seen yet – they’re called Solatubes. They look like something you’d see on a spaceship but they’re very simple. Just a round cylinder tube extending down a foot or so in from the ceiling and leads up to above the roof for a nice clear intake of natural light. Other features that make the building environmentally friendly and efficient are things like lights that automatically go off when an office sits empty for a while and the bathrooms upstairs have hands-free water faucets and low-water toilets. And let’s not fail to mention that some recycled materials were used in the remodel and construction of the office space upstairs. To finish it all off, they regularly display beautiful artwork throughout the hallways and reception area.
Our own cozy part of the building was spruced up as well, but still retains some of the original bar and counters behind the bar. Here we are, still stacking booze on those counters decades later. Having the law businesses upstairs provides us with more great guests and makes it possible to serve you in a fantastic comfortable space. And what have we brought to the building? Peter appreciates the character we bring to not only the building, but the neighborhood and local community as well. “It’s convenient for the employees working there to get affordable, great food and drinks”, he says, “…and Rooster and Moon is a great fit for the building and the people working in the offices”.
Ah shucks…thanks Peter! And thank you, blog readers. Hope to see you again or for the first time in our home sweet coffee pub home.