CLEVELAND, Ohio - One of the city's best-known dive bars - and, by some accounts, its oldest - will change hands Tuesday.
But the politicians, prosecutors and proletariat who populate the Harbor Inn have little to fear.
The Harbor Inn might be getting new stewards, but longtime owner Vlado "Wally" Pisorn isn't going anywhere. Neither are the dart boards, the dim lighting and the dingy, well-loved aesthetic.
"We want the cosmetics to stay the same," said Michael Mercer, a hospitality entrepreneur taking over the business through a deal with Jacobs Investments, Inc., of Cleveland and Florida.
A Jacobs affiliate will buy the bar, at 1219 Main Ave., for an undisclosed price and hang onto the real estate. That's not a surprising move, since developer and gaming investor Jeff Jacobs controls much of the surrounding west bank of the Flats, including the Nautica Entertainment Complex and the apartments at Nautica.
Mercer, in turn, will rent the Harbor Inn space from Jacobs and take over the business.
Michael Mercer, left, and Vlado "Wally" Pisorn stand in front of the Harbor Inn bar in the Flats on Friday. Mercer is buying the bar business and Jacobs Investments, Inc., is buying the building, which Pisorn has owned for decades.
A partner in various Northeast Ohio eateries and entertainment venues over the years, Mercer started out in the 1980s as general manager of Club Coconuts, a nightclub that once drew crowds to Nautica.
His resume also includes ownership and management of Howl at the Moon, a piano bar that occupied space in a former brick power station at Nautica until early 2011.
"I've known Wally and have been a proud patron of the Harbor Inn for as many years as I've been down here," Mercer said during an interview at the bar on Friday. "I'm honored that he and I have struck the deal for me to take over, with him as a consultant and an ongoing part of the Harbor Inn as it grows bigger, better and faster."
In his early 70s, Pisorn is as much a Flats institution as the quirky watering hole he's owned since the 1960s.
Last week, a near-life-size cardboard cutout of real estate mogul and presidential candidate Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, greeted patrons entering the bar. Asked about the apparent endorsement, Pisorn shrugged his shoulders under his Harbor Inn T-shirt. "She's Slovenian and I'm Slovenian, and I support her," he said, adding that Ohio Gov. John Kasich can sign onto the Trump ticket as vice president.
Pisorn proudly points out the political campaign placards crowding the walls, the blazing array of neon signs and a creased magazine page, ripped from a recent issue of Esquire, that proclaimed the Harbor Inn to be one of the nation's best bars. "If civilization were to collapse (more than it has already, that is), this would be the place to ride things out," the author wrote. "Lord knows they've got enough booze, some of it decades old."
Family members, including a daughter and a son-in-law, still help Pisorn run the bar. They'll stick around, Mercer said, along with the longtime bartenders, the comfort-food lunch menu and the Cleveland Darter Club's hall of fame.
"The big news," Mercer said, "is that we will add draft beer."
By Oct. 1, he expects to install a dozen taps, spotlighting local brews. He also plans to expand the food offerings, adding evening and late-night options to a menu that now cuts off at 4 p.m. And there could be more Friday and Saturday events on the second floor, where Pisorn used to bring in bands and pack the dance floor.
Disco might be a draw, Pisorn suggested. Or polka, perhaps.
Real estate agent Bob O'Connor said the Harbor Inn, initially listed at a $1 million asking price, generated a flurry of interest and a few offers. A local businessman nearly bought the bar for a family member, but the deal didn't come together. Everyone amicably parted ways. Out-of-town buyers flitted through the Flats, but their offers weren't appealing to Pisorn.
"One guy was from New York," he said. "One guy was from California. They all want a deal, but I say 'No.' When I got here in the '60s, there were junkyards all around. Then Jeff [Jacobs] bought Shooters and fixed up the whole area. He brought the aquarium in. I'm really happy that he buys it, and not someone else."
O'Connor, Mercer and Pisorn wouldn't discuss the sale terms. Real estate listings show the last advertised price for the Harbor Inn was $750,000. The Cuyahoga County Fiscal Office estimates that the building - just the real estate, not the business - is worth just shy of $260,000.
David Grunenwald, vice president of development for Jacobs, didn't respond to requests for comment about the purchase. The company hasn't said much about its broader plans for the Flats, beyond an early 2015 news release that referenced a new, residentially-focused master-planning effort for the 20-acre Nautica property.
"We want to continue what's going on here," Mercer said. "Customers can expect to see the same thing they've seen for years. Wally will be coming down and visiting and making sure that the Harbor Inn remains the Harbor Inn, a division of Wally World. I say that tongue-in-cheek, but very proudly."