Local sports lounge "The Turn" to close after years in business
By James Kmosko
Local sports lounge “The Turn” is closing after eleven years of serving the Chronicle-Denver area.
The bar, located on NC-16 Business just north of the Lincoln County line, will close after May 2nd.
The owners of the property will not renew the bar’s lease in favor of pursuing other options, Keisha Ann Gantt, manager at The Turn, told the Chronicle.
“This is definitely not the news we wanted. So we will celebrate every day while we can,” The Turn said in a statement on the bar’s official Facebook page. “Stop by, see your favorite bartender, tell your favorite stories. Let’s make our last week something to remember. I will be reaching out to all the bands to let them know as well. Thanks to all of our customers who have become more like family than friends.”
The Turn is known for its live music, events, and community atmosphere, according to patrons of the establishment.
The location has operated as a bar under several different names and owners. It was originally founded in 1975 by Larry Sherrill and his wife Patsy as Larry’s Famous Bar.
“At the time, Catawba County was not dry,” Gantt said. “Everywhere else was a dry county. You couldn’t get alcohol anywhere from Mecklenburg to here. So they started the bar. She was actually the brains behind the operation. It was her idea to buy the property.”
The bar saw success with events such as turkey shoots, parties, and other events.
“There’s a mound, a hill over here with trees,” Keisha said. “Those are memorial trees for people who passed away. The mound is there because they used to have turkey shoots out back, and that was to absorb bullets, and they used to play horseshoes and all kinds of stuff.”
The location first closed in 1985 after a fire destroyed the original building, according to Keisha. Several theories exist to explain the cause of the fire.
“It’s kind of lore around here that Larry burned the bar down,” Keisha said. “[Patsy] said he didn’t, but that the insurance thought he did. They sat across the street from [their] house watching him because they thought he did.”
The bar was purchased from the Sherills in 1997, but continued to operate under the name “First Turn,” named after the location of the owners’ box at Charlotte Motor Speedway, according to Keisha. Patsy continued working for the new owners into the 21st century.
The bar changed hands several more times and closed again in 2015. It reopened over a year later, but the year-long hiatus did not dissuade the patrons.
“When this place was shut down, for two years, they would bring their own beer, and they would come and sit in the back and drink,” Keisha said.
Some patrons have been visiting The Turn and its various iterations for generations. One patron who overheard the interview being conducted between Keisha and the Chronicle mentioned that he had been coming to the bar since 1989.
“I remember coming here when I was little,” Keisha said. “It’s more than a bar. It’s a whole community of people that are not going to have anywhere to go.”
The Turn will continue to operate as normal until the day it closes. There will be a “send off party” featuring a band and food on Sunday, May 3rd, the final day in operation.
The bar’s management plans to reopen in another location in the near future.
“He’s looking for a building, but they need a place [with] a license; you can’t have alcohol just anywhere,” Keisha said. “It’s rapidly changing around here.”
“We will miss our little dive bar, but this isn’t a goodbye. It’s a see you later,” the bar’s closing statement reads. Tim Schoenig, the bar’s leaseholder, added in Facebook comments, “We will be back,” and “I promise you that better is coming.”
Despite the possibility of moving the bar to a new location, Keisha and other patrons expressed regret at losing the current site.
“This view - where the sun sets right here - this is the most incredible view in all of Denver,” Keisha said. “If you’ve never seen the sunset from here, you should come here in person before you can’t. You can stand in here and watch the storms come over [Anderson] Mountain, or when it snows. It’s beautiful.”
