The liquor license transfers for both Wonder Bar and Poor Boys Steakhouse, which the pair also purchased, were approved at Tuesday’s Casper City Council meeting.

Since the sale of the bar was announced in September, rumors about the fate of the bar have circulated on social media. The Wonder Bar opened in the 1930s and while it has changed ownership and even names over the years, it has remained a mainstay on Center Street.

“Us not being able to give our public plans caused anxiety,” Tony Cercy said. “When we’re able to give the plans, the anxiety will subside and the public will get behind us.”

Cercy said he and Cole would hold a press conference Friday at the Wonder Bar to reveal their full plans. But speaking to the Star-Tribune after Tuesday’s council meeting, Cercy confirmed that the Wonder Bar would reopen as a bar and restaurant and that the name would be preserved.

“We want to keep that heritage,” Cercy said. “We are going to use the name ‘Wonder Bar,’ but we are going to establish our own brand as well.”

Cercy added that he expected to preserve the wooden bar fixture, an item that Wonder Bar employees had circulated a petition asking the Cercys to preserve due to its historical notability.

“It’s undecided, but both my son and I looked at it, and I can say every effort will be made to keep it,” Cercy said.

He said that while a timeline would be revealed at the press conference on Friday, construction was expected to begin immediately.

The Cercys donated $1 million to the David Street Station project last week, and Tony Cercy said he sees the purchase and planned renovation of Wonder Bar as an exciting development for downtown Casper.

“We want, for both us and for the city, a place that Casper wants to gather, wants to come have a drink and get dinner,” Cercy said.

Several community members spoke in favor of the liquor license transfer Tuesday night, including businessman Pat Sweeney, who sold Wonder Bar and Poor Boys to the Cercys.

“The Cercys will be a marvelous fit for downtown,” Sweeney said. “I see them bringing some vibrancy to Center Street.”

Sweeney said some social media comments about the new owners were unfair and that it was important to remember that the Wonder Bar has not operated continuously since the 1930s. When he bought it about 15 years ago Sweeney said it was known as Tommy Knockers and had held several other names before that.

“There have been a lot of attacks… against the new ownership group: ‘How dare you think of changing anything dadadadada,” he said. “It’s got a storied past, but it’s time for a new chapter.”

Matt Galloway, whose family owns Galloway’s Irish Pub and Keg and Cork, also spoke in favor of the Cercys’ acquisition.

“Social media has been unfair to the Cercys,” Galloway said. “I want to offer our fullest support as fellow bar owners.”

“I think what they’re going to do is going to be fantastic,” he added. Galloway and several business partners are planning to open a new bar on the corner of Midwest and Ash Streets near the Wonder Bar location.

Cercy said he did not expect so many people to speak in favor of the liquor license transfer.

“I was very surprised and very happy,” Cercy said. “It feels really good.”