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The Baltimore Eagle, the city’s iconic leather bar, may have its long-awaited opening on New Year’s Eve.

“We’re doing two inspections this week,” Charles King, general manager of the Baltimore Eagle, told the Blade. “We’re still hopeful of opening even partially by New Year’s Eve. Keeping our fingers crossed.” The inspections will be conducted by Baltimore City officials.

The bar, located at 2022 N. Charles St., closed in 2012 following the death of its owner Richard Richardson. The Eagle was purchased by Charles and Ian Parrish in 2013, and a major renovation and construction effort costing approximately $1 million got underway.

There was a setback with the Baltimore City Liquor Board in 2015, but the management team persevered. While construction continued, they obtained the needed liquor license in September.

“The bar itself will not just be one bar, but rather a collection of bars, restaurants, a leather and adult retail store, a package goods store, a lounge featuring a collection of leather community history and artifacts, and an event space inspired by Bohemian romance and cabaret nostalgia that will bring the NYC and Montreal music scene to Baltimore, all on multiple levels and taking a much larger footprint than the previous Eagle,” Miles Crackow, the director of social media and public relations, told the Blade in September.

A new large billboard on busy Charles Street has been on display that reads, “Buckle Up Your Ride Is Coming Soon.”

If the permits are in place in time, “we will have the biggest party Baltimore has seen in years! Keep your fingers crossed and check in with our website,” according to The Baltimore Eagle’s Facebook page.

Management has scheduled several events beginning in 2017 including the launch of “Baltimore Bear Fridays & Bears After Dark” in conjunction with Bear Nonsense.

For more information and updates, visit TheBaltimoreEagle.com.