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Amen: Portland couple is set to reopen cocktail bar inside church

Vena's Fizz House, a cocktail and mocktail bar, is set to reopen inside an old church on Congress Street in Portland this spring.

PORTLAND, Maine — Like some bar owners, Steve and Johanna Corman thought they'd spend their day in pubs as customers, not running a place.

They got their start in the business by opening up a non-alcoholic bar. Johanna said the idea was to open a place to cater to an underserved population of customers who prefer drinking "mocktails."

For example, Johanna said, some couples or friend groups may include one person who likes to drink and others who don't. 

“We started to realize, why aren’t people making non-alcohol drinks that are just as good as cocktails?" she said. "We have nothing against alcohol. We love a good cocktail.”

To have a good bar, regardless of what drinks are served, it's important to have a strong name. Vena's Fizz House, owned by the Cormans, is named after Johanna's Great Grandmother.

After a few years, they decided to add liquor into drinks, changing the identity of their spot. 

“So you know almost two years in when we did add alcohol we all were like, 'Oh gosh, [Vena's] rolling in her grave,'" Johanna added.

Like many bar owners, the pandemic forced the Cormans to pivot, and Steve said they tried to find a new location in downtown Portland.

“6 1/2 to 9,000 [dollars] in leasing per month turned us off," he added.

So the dream of having a new and improved "Fizz House" downtown seemed out of the question. But Johanna found a property just a few blocks away from the Old Port and jumped at the opportunity.

Credit: NCM

The new spot on Congress Street is in an old church. Construction is expected to wrap up within a few months and the Cormans hope to open the new location in the spring.

Despite moving into a church, the couple says they want their new bar to be a community-based gathering space for everyone.

“We’re going to try to add elements of different religions in here, you know, design-wise so it’s universal, for everybody," Johanna said.

Steve, who went to Hebrew school and was bar mitzvahed, is also a notary and will be performing marriage ceremonies on the old church stage.

But this grand plan almost never happened. The two were set to close the deal and purchase the property when the original deed from 1889 appeared. The two said the deed prohibited anyone from taking over the church for other "sinful" reasons.

“No dancing, no music, no sinful, nothing sinful, you had to be, you know, followers of Christ," Johanna said. 

Credit: NCM

Steve said he worked with lawyers and other folks behind the scenes and after a few days of legal checks, the two were cleared to open a cocktail bar inside the church.

On Tuesday, the stairwell that leads to a kitchen and will be used to make community dinners was being worked on. New floors were put down last week.

The new space will allow the two to host community events, weddings, birthday parties, and anything else Steve and Johanna can think of. 

They say the new Vena's will have the same old cozy, vintage vibe that customers came to love over the years. Only the location will be different.

And yes, they will be serving drinks on Sundays.

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