The era of the Catacombs Bar in downtown Boulder is coming to a close.

The operators of the Hotel Boulderado, 2115 13th St., are planning to remodel the subterranean night spot — which was one of the first “wet” bars in Boulder after the city lifted its liquor ban in the late 1960s — and reopen it under a different concept and name.

“It’ll be undergoing a transformation, but it’s going to continue as a bar,” said Frank Day, who has owned the Boulderado since 1980. “Will it be exactly the same? No.

“I think it’s run its course.”

The planned remodel of the Catacombs is coming as part of broader changes to the Boulderado’s restaurant offerings.

The contract with John Platt, the local restaurateur who has operated Q’s and The Corner Bar since 1993, expires at the end of the year, Day said, adding that Boulderado officials have opted to bring the management of those restaurants in-house.

Platt, who serves as the chef and co-proprietor of Riffs Urban Fare, 1115 Pearl St., in downtown Boulder, said that if it were up to him, he would continue forward at the Boulderado restaurants.

“It was not my decision to leave,” Platt said of his role with Q’s and The Corner Bar.

‘Add some new twists’

Plans have not been finalized for The Corner Bar, Q’s and Catacombs, but discussions are progressing and efforts should start to materialize after the first of the year, Day said.

“Q’s is a nice restaurant. We’ll continue that tradition and maybe add some new twists to it,” he said. “The Corner Bar could use a little boot in the butt. We’re planning some upgrades and changes.”

Some of the ideas being floated for the Catacombs include converting it to a modern version of a Prohibition-era speakeasy or a lounge bar, he said.

“It’ll be definitely something more in line with the Boulderado brand than the Catacombs, which has become a college bar over the years,” he said.

The Catacombs bar’s roots date back to March 1969, when a Boulderado co-owner partnered with a local restaurateur to convert a “junk-filled basement” into a restaurant and lounge. The Catacombs and Tom’s Tavern were among the first businesses to be granted liquor licenses after the 1967 repeal of the city’s liquor ban, said Sylvia Pettem, a local historian and author of “Legend of a Landmark: A History of the Hotel Boulderado.”

‘Among the best’

“The Combs” quickly grew in popularity and would attract droves of people who lined up outside to get into the bar when it was at capacity, said Don Bertetto, a former Boulder resident who frequented the Catacombs in its heyday.

Bertetto, who now lives in Indiana, credited the Catacombs with playing an integral role in the early years of Hanson Industries Inc., a ski boot manufacturer founded in 1970.

“Primarily joking, we used to say that Hanson Industries was born and raised in the Catacombs,” said Bertetto, 75, who was involved in Hanson Industries’ formation with brothers Denny and Chris Hanson.

Bertetto and the Hansons, who worked across 13th Street from the Boulderado, would use lunches at Catacombs for research and development, he said. The ski boot designs sketched on napkins would be brought back to the office to be finalized, he added.

Hanson Industries would entertain its board of directors at the Catacombs, which Bertetto lauded for its “impeccable” food.

“One of our board members, a world traveler, said he always looked forward to those dinners and ranked the Catacombs among the best,” Bertetto said.

After Day bought the Boulderado in 1980, the underground bar went through a couple different iterations — among them a bar called Newcomb’s and a pasta restaurant — but eventually reverted to the Catacombs name.

Five years ago, some concern was stirred among Catacombs’ patrons when renovations were planned to make the bar more upscale.

Day said he’s aware that there may be some attachment to the Catacombs, but changes to the bar, The Corner Bar and Q’s are the result of evolution.

“This is a business, you keep moving, you keep rolling along,” he said. “Things have to metamorphose.”

Contact Camera Business Writer Alicia Wallace at 303-473-1332 or wallacea@dailycamera.com.