Current customers can expect the same menu, the same staff, same music nights, most of the same memorabilia on the wall and even a bit of the same pine paneling, he said Friday.

Construction is starting at the new location at 404 Place, 404 4th Ave. N., a block over from the current location at the Howard Johnson Inn.

Glessner said he's not sure when the last day at the hotel and the first day at 404 Place will be, but he's aiming to open before the annual Halloween bash.

The hotel and the attached bar is slated for demolition because the bar is on land needed for the new dikes that will protect downtown. The Cass County Joint Water Resource District, a member of the Diversion Authority, agreed to buy the building and the land under the bar as well as move the bar for $7 million last month. The land under the hotel will stay with the current owner.

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"If it wasn't for flood control, then there'd been a fight," Glessner said. "But because it's for the betterment of the city, we're quietly moving."

Business at the new location will be a little different than now, according to Glessner. There won’t be a separate dining area for families, so it will be a 21-only restaurant. There will be more windows and less room to hang the memorabilia, so some of it will be given away to customers.

The bar and hotel as well as 404 Place are owned by separate companies controlled by Kevin J. Hall.

The 404 Place building also happens to be in the Renaissance Zone, and Hall has applied for tax credits for renovating the ground floor for the bar. City staff supports the application saying Fourth Avenue North has a lot of potential as part of city plans for revitalizing the riverfront. The Planning Department said it has discussed the idea of putting housing on the second floor of 404 Place, but Hall’s company has not shown interest.

Though they’re not considered historically significant properties, 404 Place and the Howard Johnson Inn have a decades-long history in the city.

The former was built in 1916 and was known then as the Western Newspaper Union building, according to city staff. The latter first opened as the Town House Motor Hotel in 1961, according to North Dakota State University’s history archives. That’s shortly after urban renewal efforts leveled a large chunk of downtown’s eastern blocks and led to construction of the Fargo Civic Center and City Hall.

The hotel has been home to several restaurants over the years, including Embers Lounge, Fireside Room Restaurant, Downtown Club and Mosquito Landing. The Sidestreet bar replaced Mosquito Landing in 2002.