The ownership behind West Columbia’s New Brookland Tavern will still have a presence there moving forward, even as the longstanding rock dive gets ready to move from its spot on State Street in December.

The Attic Lounge, a sister bar located upstairs and a couple doors down at 134 1/2 State St., softly opened last week and will have more open hours this week (Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 12-14: 4-11 p.m.; Sunday: TBD). Per the new space’s Facebook, the venue’s first few days included acoustic music on the spacious deck and a drag show.

“This business will be staying where it’s located regardless of NBT moving for hopefully many years to come!” New Brookland posted about The Attic last week.

New Brookland owner Mike Lyons and Carlin Thompson, who runs sound and oversees the club’s operation, announced that they would team up to open the new lounge-style bar and hangout spot back in May. Since then, they held a couple pop-ups in the space (including a solo tour stop from SUSTO frontman Juston Osborne) while waiting to finish the build-out and acquire the proper permits to begin serving alcohol.

The space previously housed the comedy-dominated Red Door Tavern before becoming home to tobacco hangout The Cigar Box, which shuttered in April 2020. It most recently housed Gov. Henry McMaster’s campaign office during his 2022 re-election bid.

Lyons and Thompson opened the lounge to add a varied, catch-all kind of hangout spot to go along with New Brookland, looking to host small concerts and other events, such as comedy or perhaps yoga on the large deck out back. 

“A few months back we started working on a second endeavor next door to NBT to provide another space on our block with a unique atmosphere — but for folks who may not want to go to NBT where it can be loud and rowdy,” New Brookland posted last week. “This is a spot to chill”

One of the purposes initially intended for The Attic will soon no longer be needed. New Brookland’s current space, where it has operated as a full-time music venue since at least 1998, doesn’t have a green room where artists can escape from the crowd during shows. The Attic, with its easily accessible back staircase and cozy side rooms, offered a chance to add that amenity.

The last date that a New Brookland act will have need of that recently added green room will be Dec. 29, as the club announced last week that night is when Sequoyah Prep School, the 2000s-era indie rock band that frequently plays reunion gigs at the club, will give the final show at the current space.

The club has made clear that it is moving to a new space in the area, indicating that an announcement on when and where that will happen is coming in the near future.

New Brookland is moving away from its State Street home after the more-than-100-year-old-building was sold. Lyons, who has owned the club since 2004, told the Chronicle in August he received an offer to buy the building for $700,000. He didn’t end up taking that deal.

“New lease price was too expensive for the return,” Thompson told the Chronicle last month, after the building sold and New Brookland announced that it would move to a new space.

“This area doesn’t work for us anymore, while a lot of national shows do great here the local ones tend to suffer due to no walk-through traffic. Someone tried quoting once that West Columbia was the future of the arts community for the scene, but it’s not. The costs of getting this building to where it needs to be is too high for the return. We have neighboring businesses calling the cops on us every other month due to buses from bigger acts — even when their businesses are closed or not bringing in people to the area.”