When Dave Wilby announced that his beloved Dawson Street Pub would be closed for renovations starting July 14, he anticipated being able to reopen around two weeks or so from that date.

But, as is often the case when dealing with building upgrades and enhancements, the projected time to finish the work was stretched out longer than originally expected.

 “We’re about 90 percent done now,” the 41-year-old Wilby said during an Aug. 21 tour of the local bar, which sits at the corner of Dawson and Cresson streets.

Wilby is the third owner of the bar, located in a space that actually started out as a butcher shop when the building was first erected in the 1800s. It became a bar sometime during the late 1930s or early 1940s, after prohibition ended, he said.

During the 1970s and 80s, Dawson Street had essentially been transformed into a “biker bar,” Wilby said, attracting some unscrupulous characters from time to time. But that changed when the Philadelphia native took it over.

Today, the bar/restaurant serves everyone from neighborhood locals to college students to musicians. The type of clientele that file through the doors really depends on what’s going on in town at any given moment, Wilby said.

 “It’s a lot of walk-in traffic, but we do draw from all over the area,” he said.

Take, for example, Sean, a Philadelphia resident and frequent Dawson Street Pub patron who declined to give his last name since he works at a competitive bar in town.

“I love that place,” Sean said. “They have one of the better beer selections around here.”

Sean described Dawson Street as a “neighborhood bar,” but also one that “more people should go to.”

Speaking of beer selection, Wilby said fans of Dawson St. need not worry; a renovated bar does not mean that the beer will be in short supply – quite the contrary. In fact, a whole new draft system has been installed, bringing the total number of draft selections from nine to 12. A new cooler was also added, allowing for more room to house various domestic and locally-brewed beers.

The food selection will also be upgraded, with Michael Suminski, head chef at Orlean’s Jazz House, lending a hand with creating a new menu sometime this fall. 

Perhaps one of the reasons for the lengthy renovation period can be traced to the fact that most upgrades are being done by Wilby’s own family; his brother, Walt, a cabinet maker, helped out a lot, as did dad, Ed, also a co-owner of the bar.

When informed of word on the street from concerned regulars who have been worried about the state of Dawson Street, Wilby said that’s just evidence that the bar has a following, which is far from a bad thing.

 “At least people are keeping us in mind,” he said.

Some patrons, like Sean, are bartenders in the area who come to Dawson St. to escape the hustle and bustle of busy Main Street. One of the draws — the bar’s operating hours.

“We stay open until 2 every night, no matter if we’re busy or not,” Wilby said.

Wilby said the renovations, which also include a new bar top, new shelving and a fresh paint job, were timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Dawson Street, the bar as it is known today.

 “The place needed to be overhauled anyway, and I figured this would be a good time to do it,” Wilby said.

At this point, Wilby is hoping Dawson Street will reopen sometime in the very foreseeable future, such as in the next couple of weeks, but time will only tell. He does plan to have a grand reopening party, possibly during the third week in September.

And Wilby, one of four full-time workers at the bar, shouldn’t be hard to find. If he’s not at Dawson Street, he most likely will be on Dawson Street; he resides in the living space above the bar.