MIAMI – Miami's oldest bar is closing but isn't gone for good.
The new owners of Tobacco Road are in the final stages of securing a piece of land not far from its original location in Brickell to build a new and bigger spot.
Wednesday the owners announced that the bar, which has been there since 1912, will now be located on Northwest Seventh Street in downtown Miami. The bar closed its original location as the mega-project City Centre is going up across the street on South Miami Avenue.
Tobacco Road is also hitting the water, teaming up with Norwegian Cruise Lines to open a replica restaurant on board its newest ship, the Escape. That restaurant will open in November 2015.
The changes are a bitter-sweet goodbye for Patrick Gleber, who's owned Tobacco Road for more than 30 years. But he said he knows it's time.
"It's Miami," Gleber said. "I love this city. ... This is our city. We're young, we're strong and we grow."
The bar's longtime manager and a group of dedicated workers said they are hoping to raise enough money to keep the famed neon sign, bar tables and parts of the famed patio bar for the new location.
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