Developers partner with restaurant owners to expand The Sportsman Tavern
By Stephen Baldwin, RealWV
When Mark Trent and Dan Withrow joined forces to renovate and restore The Sportsman Tavern, one of the longest-running bars in West Virginia, they knew it would be a project full of twists and turns.
“Our biggest challenge was to overcome a bad reputation of the last 92 years,” Dan shares. “We have accomplished what we set out to accomplish.”
In a partnership with Lee Carter and Brittany McCulley, who have operated The Dawg House restaurant next door for the last year, Trent and Withrow are turning over ownership to the couple in a move designed to take The Sportsman to the next level.
“We’re combining the restaurant and bar into one entity,” Carter explains. “It will be a family-friendly place that’s unique. This 1930s style with modern touches and the quality of food is really unique.”
Withrow plans to stay on as a co-owner, albeit perhaps in a more limited way than the past. “I’m 72 and have spent 70-80 hours a week here, and I can’t keep doing that. But it’s a special place. Lee and Brittany are quality people that I want to work with.”
“This was the plan the whole time,” says Mark Trent, who developed the project in his hometown. “To build something and then put it in someone’s hands whose dream it was to run a restaurant. I just didn’t expect it to happen so fast. Lee and Brittany are the right fit. It’s all serendipitous.”
Mark is an elected member of the Ronceverte City Council, serves on the Parks & Recreation Board, and is involved in several other development projects in town, in addition to his own job as a videographer and photographer whose talents have taken him across the globe.
He says nothing else will change about his commitment to Ronceverte. “I needed to let go of a few obligations. I’m gonna continue to do some development projects. We’ve got one new business coming in, we’ve got our eye on a few more properties, and then a much bigger project after that. So it’s not gonna stop. I’m just passing this torch.”
“Mark will always have a home at The Sportsman Tavern,” says Brittany. “That is so important to us. What he and Dan have built is so wonderful.”
She and Lee hope to take what the developers created to the next level.
“We’re going to be open seven days a week with extended hours,” she explains. “Probably open at 11am and stay longer in the evening. Plus a new menu with a full service kitchen and weekly specials.”
“We also are building what we will hope will be a music venue every artist from the region wants to play at,” Lee adds.
“Once people come in, they realize this is a family friendly place that’s no different from Applebees, in the sense that we offer food an alcohol,” says Dan. “It’s a family oriented place that continues the growth of Ronceverte.”
As the first developers in a new wave of Ronceverte businesses two years ago, Mark and Dan say people always ask them how they would feel about another bar or restaurant coming to the River City?
“I say If we look up and we’re the only one in town, we’ve failed,” Dan confides. “It’s a whole pie. We just need one slice of it. We want to share.”
Two new businesses are expected in town this year–a Mexican restaurant and a motorcycle shop–in addition to a laboratory and other long-term development projects yet to be announced.
“We’re about 10% where we need to be as a city,” Dan says. “But we’re getting there with the city administration and citizens and businesses working together. Keep an eye on Ronceverte.”
The Sportsman Tavern is located at 683 Edgar Avenue. For more information, follow them on Facebook.
