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For the past 13 years, Rick's Place has been in only one place -- downtown Lawrence.

That will soon change. Rick Younger, owner of the neighborhood bar and grill, said he was moving the longtime downtown business from its home at 623 Vt. to a new location along the Ninth Street corridor.

The bar and grill will move by Feb. 1 -- but more likely before the end of the year -- to the former Dodson Liquor & Keg building at 846 Ill., Younger said.

Younger said he decided to pull up stakes after becoming uncertain about the future of the building the bar now calls home. The building was bought about three years ago by Lawrence developer Doug Compton, and Younger said he wasn't sure if he would be able to negotiate a new long-term lease.

"I'm just not sure what the future of the building holds, so I thought I would take the opportunity to move while I had it," Younger said.

Compton said he had no particular plans for the building other than as an investment property. He said he hadn't been formally notified of Younger's departure, but said he thought the building probably could attract another bar tenant.

"There was a lot of interest for the space when his lease was up two years ago, and I think there will be a lot of interest again," Compton said. "We had a lot of interest from people wanting to do pretty much the same thing he's doing now."

Younger said he had mixed emotions about leaving downtown. While no longer being part of the downtown bar scene may hurt business, he said the new location may have other advantages.

"It's close to the university, it is still close to downtown, and it is far more visible than the current spot and I don't have to worry about metered parking," Younger said. "I'll have like 40 spaces there.

"Plus, I don't think it will hurt to be two blocks from the football stadium. I can imagine what it would have been like if we would have been open last Saturday for the Missouri game. Hopefully, they'll keep winning."

Younger said he's still undecided whether he'll change the general theme of the bar. One item he has heard plenty about is the bar's shuffleboard table, one of the few in town.

"Everybody I talk to says I have to take it," Younger said. "It's like there's some sort of petition going around town to save it, so I'll have to work on that."

Younger has owned the business since 1990 but said there has been a bar at the location since at least 1988 when the business was named Bogarts.

After 13 years in downtown Lawrence, Rick's Place owner Rick Younger plans to move the business into the former Dodson Liquor & Keg building near Ninth and Illinois streets. Younger prepared Wednesday to open the bar for business.