On Tap Sports Cafe in Birmingham's Lakeview District has closed, and the owners plan to open a new location off I-459 in the Liberty Park area next year.

"This is a good lateral move for us," Todd Beegle, assistant managing partner for all the On Top Sports Cafe locations in the metro Birmingham area, told AL.com this morning. "We are hoping (to open) before next summer."

Beegle and his parents, Craig and Elaine Beegle, also own the On Tap Sports Cafes in Inverness, Fultondale and at the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover.

The Lakeview location of On Tap opened nearly 15 years ago at the corner of Clairmont Avenue and 29th Street South.

Since then, the Lakeview District has undergone a major renaissance, with the openings of Slice Pizza & Brewhouse, Moe's Original Bar B Que, Five, SideBar, Sky Castle, Babalu Tacos & Tapas, Hattie B's Hot Chicken, Jack Brown's Beer & Burger Joint, Cashio's Meatball Market and others.

Todd Beegle said On Tap's lease on the Lakeview building is expiring at the end of November, and they decided to go ahead and close now. They closed Monday, he said.

"Thanks to everyone for your years of love and support at our Lakeview location, but unfortunately, we're moving," the Beegle family said in a notice on the door of the sports bar and grill. "Our current lease has expired, and our building is scheduled to be redeveloped by its current property owners.

"Nevertheless, we are constructing a new 6,000-square foot building in Liberty Park and will be opening next year in their new 700-acre development, next to the new Publix.

"Thank you again for everything you've done in making us a Birmingham-area staple. Please visit our Galleria, Inverness or Fultondale locations in the meantime, and see you next year at On Tap in Liberty Park."

The new Liberty Park location will be in an as-yet unnamed residential and retail development just north of the Overton Access Road exit off I-459, Todd Beegle said. A Publix grocery store will be part of that development when it opens, he said.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.