Tonight will be the last time patrons can visit Tallahassee’s Midtown Filling Station bar and Alchemy speakeasy. The once-popular watering holes are closing their doors after a few years.
Tallahassee resident Molly Woodsum says since she moved back to her hometown as a young professional, Midtown Filling Station has been the place she and her friends have spent many a weekend.
“The Filling Station was just was always where I ended up," she says. "And I didn’t really have a need—even though I was newly 21, I didn’t have a need to find other places because the Filling Station was just so comfortable.”
She says she’ll try her hardest to attend tonight’s goodbye celebration as Filling Station and neighboring speakeasy Alchemy prepare to shut their doors for good. Woodsum says the bars at Thomasville Road’s Manor at Midtown helped spark the district’s revitalization over the past five years.
“It is definitely growing in popularity, but I think it’s because Filling Station kind of like paved the way," she says.
Longtime club promoter and DJ Greg Tish agrees, the bars' closure is not a sign midtown is in trouble.
"I mean, we have the addition of the Brass Tap and some other great places—you know, the Front Porch is still relatively new," Tish says. "It’s always evolving in midtown. I don’t think there’s a decline that’s going on right now. I think it’s just still growing, and new places are coming in, and it’s just lovely.”
Tish is hosting tonight’s final celebration at Midtown Filling Station.
Anna Dower, marketing director for the bars’ owner, Hunter+Harp, says the closures are a reflection of the ever-changing hospitality industry. Hunter+Harp still runs the Front Porch restaurant and Recess bar at College Town, among other properties.
No one has yet signed a lease to move into Filling Station’s spot.
