Syracuse, NY -- Clark's Ale House, the iconic Armory Square drinking spot that has won national recognition as one of America's best beer bars, is closing Saturday, Sept. 25, with no immediate plans to reopen.

A note to customers from owner Ray Clark apologizes for the abrupt closing, and says it's due to the need for the Landmark Theatre, which houses the bar at 122 W. Jefferson St., to begin work on its planned expansion project.

Clark’s had nearly two years remaining on its lease, and Ray Clark had previously said he would continue to operate at that location through the end of the lease while seeking new quarters for his bar. The Landmark Theatre bought out the remainder of Clark's lease.

“I and my crew would love to keep serving Syracuse ‘til the end of Clark’s legitimate legal lease — 8-22-12 — but I must do the right thing and not fight the troubled Landmark Theatre and let them go ahead with their massive expansion, as it should be good for Syracuse.”

Clark announced the closing to his staff Friday and put flyers out on the bar’s tables Saturday. Clark will explore his options for reopening, but has no immediate plans.

Manager Bart Daly said the closing comes much sooner than anyone anticipated. “We thought we were going to have two years, but due to circumstances beyond our control, it’s happening now.”

Landmark Theatre officials could not be reached Sunday for comment.

Clark’s opened in 1992 and was the first bar in Syracuse to embrace the then-new craft brewing trend, with full-flavored domestic beers and imports previously unavailable or hard to find in Central New York, like Sierra Nevada, Anchor, Watney’s and Young’s. It was also the first Central New York bar to offer cask-conditioned ale, the naturally carbonated beer found in pubs in Britain.

Clark’s has no TVs or music. It was modeled on a traditional English pub atmosphere, where a few pints and good conversation were the most important things. It famously offered 22 drafts and one sandwich (a roast beef), though it later added turkey to its limited food menu.

In 2008, the editors of the national beer magazine All About Beer magazine ranked Clark’s — along with its Armory Square colleague The Blue Tusk — among “top 125 places to have a beer before you die,” a list that included beers and drinking spots around the globe. Clark’s was named one the nation’s top 200 beer bars the following year in Draft magazine.

Clark’s is also consistently ranked high in other national good beer and bar guides.

“It was the first real beer bar in Armory Square,” said longtime customer Ed Wren, who also owns EJ Wren Homebrewer, the homebrewing supply shop in Liverpool. “The thing that really attracted Cindy (Wren’s wife) and me is that is had no TV, no jukebox, and no video games. But they always had fresh beer and always had something you wanted to try.”

The long-planned $16 million renovation of the Landmark Theatre is expected to begin this fall and will take about a year. The theater’s auditorium and stage will be closed to events, including the showing of movies, until the fall of 2011, the theater’s executive director, Denise DiRienzo has said.

The theater’s ornate lobby will remain open for weddings, receptions, corporate parties, fundraisers and other events, she said.

The renovation will greatly enlarge the Landmark’s stage so that it can host larger concerts, plays and other live performances. Currently, only relatively small shows are possible on the theater’s stage, which was built for the showing of movies, not for live performances.

With a deeper, wider stage, Landmark officials hope to attract Broadway-type shows that require bigger sets.

In addition to a new stage, rehearsal and dressing rooms will be built for performers, the building’s electrical system will be upgraded, and a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system will be installed. The number of seats in its auditorium will not change from the current 2,948.

Funding includes $6.5 million in state grants, a $500,000 federal grant and federal tax credits of up to 20 percent of $14.5 million of the project’s cost. The rest is being financed by loans and donations.