Cedar Rapids Fieldhouse sports bar moving to smaller location

CEDAR RAPIDS - Fieldhouse, a local sports bar, will move from its 8,000-square-foot location on Blairs Ferry Road NE to a smaller location on First Avenue in an effort downsize its operation.

Although the Cedar Rapids location may be scaling down, Fieldhouse Owner Dave Carey said he has plans to open a Fieldhouse location in November in Las Vegas.

Carey said the Blairs Ferry building is too big for a sports bar and the smaller, 3,000-square-feet space at 5001 First Avenue SE would better suit the business.

'We're not changing anything but the address,” Carey said.

He said the new location would have the same menu, food and decor as the old location.

The bar will close its Blairs Ferry Road location this weekend and open in the new location in mid-August, just in time for football season, Carey said.

'They've already been working at it for a month,” Carey said of the First Avenue location.

Carey said when he first bought the Blairs Ferry location he thought it would be a good size. But after some time, Carey said he realized it was too big and it was difficult to fill the bar to capacity.

'The concept works, but I don't need 8,000 feet to make it work,” Carey said.

Carey did a year of research on where to put a new Fieldhouse bar and said he decided on Las Vegas after finding out he could put slot machines in the bar and there was a significant amount of buildings for sale.

The availability of buildings on the market allowed them to get a great location, Carey said.

The Fieldhouse location in Las Vegas will be 4,000 square feet.

In the future, Carey said he could see many other Fieldhouse locations operating in Las Vegas.