Wheeltapper Pub reopens after renovation

Real Estate Weekly, Jan 15, 2003

The Fitzpatrick Hotel Group announced the grand re-opening of the Wheeltapper Pub, located at the Fitzpatrick Grand Central Hotel on East 44th Street at Lexington Avenue.

As a result of the one million dollar renovation, the new pub offers direct street access, three times the space and an expanded collection of authentic antique Irish railroad artifacts which enhance the pub's theme.

The 3,000-SF pub was designed and built in Ireland by Sonas, an Irish specialty bar builder, and then shipped to New York piece by piece where it was assembled on site.

Wheeltapper's decor is rich in railroad artifacts, collected from the old rail yards throughout Ireland over time by John Fitzpatrick, CEO of Fitzpatrick Hotel Group, NA and Greg Ryan of the C.I.E Heritage Center in Inchiore Co. Dublin. Antiques incorporated into the design include a 12-foot piece of rail from the Dublin to Waterford line, now used as the bar's footrest; spring-loaded buffers used to maintain separation between cars, circa 1890; Engineer seats from old engines; miniature cranes; signals; and cast-iron potbelly stoves circa 1880.

The pub offers traditional Irish "pub grub," including appetizers and snacks, soups and salads, sandwiches, entrees, and deserts. Of course, it also pours what some have already pegged as "the best Guinness outside of Ireland."