Broad Street Market’s basement is currently a large cement room with a shuffleboard in the middle. By next year, the owners hope to have the space transformed into a bar and event hall.
Located in downtown Hillsdale, the market sells specialized foods items, deli items, alcoholic beverages, and provides catering and dine-in services. The idea to include a bar has been a dream of co-owner Mick Ridder for a long time.
“He’s been looking forward to something like this for quite some time,” co-owner Robert Sacho said. “The first time we went down there, we couldn’t stop talking about the possibilities. Now we’re getting all our pieces in place to make it happen.”
Sacho said that they hope to start the project in January and have it open by April.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, so the timing’s very dependent on a lot of things,” Ridder said.
Ritter and Sacho are looking to build a bar, a bathroom, another exit from the basement, and additional parking near the separate entrance. They also hope to connect the two parts of their basement that are currently closed off by a wall. The smaller, adjoining part would ideally become a game room with a pool table, table tennis, and shuffleboard.
Despite all these changes, they do want to preserve the basement’s cement walls and embrace the industrial look.
Socha said they are aiming for a speakeasy-type of atmosphere.
“My wife and I are both very excited,” Socha said. “We both love to dance. You’ll be able to eat dinner upstairs and go dance downstairs. We want to keep people in Hillsdale, and right now, there aren’t really any places around Hillsdale where you can do that.”
He said they will establish regular Thursday through Saturday hours where people 18 and up will be “welcome to hang out, dance, and just have a good time.”
Socha said he envisions having students from Hillsdale perform either live music or theater performances at night.
In addition to the weekend hours, the basement will also be available to rent for special events for around 200 people.
This summer, Broad Street hosted its first event in the basement, which was a reading of the Declaration of Independence on the fourth of July.
Manager Kristen Aho, Hillsdale alumna `13, said she thinks the addition will be successful based on the amount of customers the market already has.
“There’s a great demographic for it here. The college has a lot of dance clubs, improv groups, and bands. This will be a great, relaxed atmosphere for them to perform at,” she said.
Ridder has great aspirations for the place.
“The hope is that it helps connect the community and the college more. It already feels like it does that a little,” Ridder said.
“Talking with people from around town or students or staff, and getting to know them over a great beer or great glass of wine is my favorite part of this place.”
