Fieldhouse Bar, a longtime staple in Iowa City’s nightlife scene, is relocating to a new downtown location at 138 S. Clinton St.
The move marks a new chapter for the 50-year-old bar, which previously operated at 118 S. Dubuque St. on the Ped Mall. That space will soon be home to Hazzard County Iowa City, a country-themed bar set to open Aug. 6.
The new Clinton Street location – formerly occupied by Active Endeavors – spans 6,758 square feet, nearly double the size of Fieldhouse’s former space.
The site is currently under construction, according to a press release from Tracy Barkalow, broker and owner of Barkalow & Associates Realtors and the building’s owner.
“We hope to have it open for the upcoming football season and the University of Iowa school year,” the press release stated, adding “This is one of the legacy bars in Iowa City. Countless memories have been made over the last five decades at the Fieldhouse Bar in Iowa City, so we are not ready to let that history come to an end.”
According to a Daily Iowan article, Fieldhouse Bar opened on College Street in 1975 and moved to the Ped Mall location a few years after it was purchased by Nick Miller in 2003. Mr. Barkalow assumed co-ownership and rights to the Fieldhouse in 2024 following the death of the original owner, Mark Eggleston, the article stated.
“I had acquired the building that the old Fieldhouse is in this year, so we didn’t know if we were going to continue the Fieldhouse in that location or not,” the article quoted Mr. Barkalow. “The Active Endeavors space was sitting empty, and it makes more sense for us and that type of bar. We went ahead to put it [Fieldhouse] in that space and place Hazzard in the current location.”
