Vodka bar on tap for downtown Springfield

A nearly 5-year-old vodka bar concept from Tulsa, Oklahoma, is adding a Springfield location at a former event center.

Andy Cagle, co-owner of Inner Circle Vodka Bar, said a January 2020 opening is the goal in Springfield at 319 W. Walnut St.

“We loved Springfield and we thought it was great,” Cagle said of visiting during the research phase of a second location. “We loved downtown and the atmosphere.”

Cagle and business partner Jacob Harper purchased a property that combines 5,500 square feet of indoor space with another 3,200 square feet on an outdoor patio at the corner of Walnut Street and Campbell Avenue. Wilhoit Properties Inc. real estate agent Anita Zimmerman, who served as the transaction broker in the deal, said the purchase closed Sept. 6. Shawn Gott, who had operated 319 Downtown Event Center at the property, was the seller and had listed the building for $850,000, she said. Cagle declined to disclose the purchase price.

He said the property is similar to the operation in Tulsa, where the business partners make use of a large outdoor area for patio games, concerts, sports broadcasts and special events. In Springfield, a foam party is planned, along with such events as a “Harry Potter” day and outdoor dance party with fake snow.

“We were looking for a place with a large patio or where we could create a large patio,” he said, noting Springfield stood out from potential sites in Kansas City and Dallas because of its low cost of living.

Cagle declined to disclose the planned investment in the Springfield vodka bar.

Inner Circle Vodka Bar, he said, serves a variety of vodkas infused with flavors on-site, including seasonal beverages such as a pumpkin spice latte. Infused gin, tequila and rum also will be on the menu, he said, and unlike Tulsa, the Springfield space has a kitchen, so they’re planning a food menu.

Cagle said Harper would move to Springfield to run the venture.

“We’re a bar, but we also want to be part of the community,” Cagle said. “We want to make the community better.”

The bar partners with nonprofits on fundraisers such as its Vodka 1K run, an event Cagale said would be coming to Springfield.