Kelly’s Saloon Opens St. Patrick’s Day Weekend

GENESEO – Kelly’s Saloon will open its doors St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

The sign is up, the paint is dry and the glasses are clean. This means that Kelly’s plans to be open for the St. Patrick’s Day parade on Saturday.

“So many people have come together to make this place possible,” said Sarah Dieter, owner. “I can’t thank everyone involved enough. I hope everyone stops in this weekend. It will be good to have smiles back in this place again.”

Anyone can sign the walls that have cream-colored paint. Logger Steve Schiano harvested the trees for the bar itself in Groveland and donated the lumber.

Everything in the bar means something to the bar and its founding family. Mugs, sayings and old trinkets from dear friends adorn the shelves. Dozens of original tin panels, signed by generations of patrons, line the high ceiling. One bears the signature of Jack Carr, who opened Kelly’s Saloon in 1979 before selling it to the Roomes. Photos of regulars are set in two old hand-painted windows, to be hung on walls. Above the photos, ‘Out of the Ashes.’

Sarah Dieter’s father, Phil, was the contractor responsible for creating the building from the burned crater between 75 and 65 Main Street in May 2016 following the July 2015 fire. He and his employees raised every brick and stick that are now 71 Main Street.

Though doors will open, there is still work to be done. In the coming weeks, a pool table and jukebox will be delivered to complete the bar.