This story appears in the May 2021 issue of Town&Gown.
A week before the bar at 108 West College Avenue reopened on April 14, longtime manager Ellen Braun and bartender Justin Griffin took time from their preparations to let me take it all in. The bar is known for its craft cocktails, but Justin was nice enough to pour me a Firestone Walker Union Jack, a West Coast-style IPA. It hit the spot while we chatted. Ellen and Justin were excited to be soon welcoming back all their old customers and show them the new digs, and I could see why.
Gone is the old bottle shop that used to stand next to the entrance to Chumley’s. In its place is an open new front entrance area, which provides more space and visibility. Outside, a rainbow painted on the overhead sign is still there to highlight the bar’s inclusivity.
There are not many locally-owned businesses that would risk closing for over a year amid a global pandemic, but Chumleyâs is no ordinary local bar.
A staple in the downtown State College area since 1984, the bar reopened on April 14 for the first time after renovations forced the business to close its doors last year.
Ellen Braun, the general manager at Chumleyâs, has worked there since 1992 and said while the time away was needed, the loss of the community was âharder than [she] could have ever imagined.â
In March 2020, just as the coronavirus was first detected in Centre County, new owners acquired the local bar and shut down operations soon after in order to begin renovations.