Beer Delivery at Old Town

A beer delivery guy from Rave Associates uses what appears to be an old coal vault, a relic from the 1800s, under the sidewalk along Ashley Street in downtown Ann Arbor to deliver kegs of beer to the Old Town Tavern on Jan. 25, 2017. Steve Pawlicki, co-owner of the tavern, said the kegs stay in the basement and the beer is fed up to the taps on the first floor. The row of Italianate brick buildings from 112-122 W. Liberty St. date back to the 1860s, and where the Old Town Tavern (122 W. Liberty) and West End Grill (120 W. Liberty) are now located, there used to be a flour and feed store, and the upper floors were residences. In 1898, a saloon named The Bismark opened in what is known today as the Old Town Tavern, and in 1935, under different ownership, it became known as The Union Bar. It was later known as Merkel’s Friendly Corner. It became the Old Town Tavern in 1972 when Jerry Pawlicki bought Merkel’s Friendly Corner from George Merkel and renamed it the Old Town Tavern. Pawlicki built the bar, bar cabinets, tables and booths, and he laid the hardwood floor and preserved the original tin ceiling. “In the early days of Old Town, it was a blue-collar bar, opening at 6 a.m. to accommodate the third-shift workers from area factories,” the company wrote on its website in 2012. “For 40 years, the Old Town has welcomed the Old West Side residents and all of Ann Arbor, as well as University of Michigan students, faculty and staff. In 1998, the business was passed to sons Chris and Steve. The Old Town is the last survivor of the of the ‘Townie’ bars. Gone is the Del Rio, Mr. Flood’s Party, the Second Chance, and the Full Moon.”