Since iconic sports bar Blake Street Tavern closed in April 2023, the cavernous space at 2301 Blake Street has been empty. But that will change this spring, when a new sports and entertainment bar moves in.Harper and Hudson Hospitality Group, which operates the Tavern Snowmass in the Aspen Valley, plans to open Tavern on Blake Street by Rockies Opening Day on April 4. Jeff and Ashley Moerke run Harper and Hudson, which is named after their two children.The couple also own an apparel brand called Harper + Hudson, an affordable restaurant concept called Aspen Country Food and Beverage, and an Italian restaurant named Il Poggio in Snowmass Village. But the Blake Street Tavern had always been close to Ashley’s heart, as she worked there a decade ago. And when the Moerkes heard that Blake Street Tavern owner Chris Fuselier was planning to close the place, they offered to buy it.For a variety of reasons, Fuselier wasn’t interested in selling, Jeff says, so the Moerkes had to wait a while to “reunite the nostalgia” of Blake Street. “Everybody that I know in Denver has some type of great story and moment of being in there,” he adds.Jeff and Ashley have already rehired former managers, bartenders and security guards who used to work at Blake Street Tavern, and are still hiring more people . “I reached out to a few people to see if they were interested in working and managing at the place,
