The Uptown VFW, on Lyndale Avenue just north of Lake Street in Minneapolis, has announced a renovation that will bring a new live music room with a capacity of 400-500 people to the venue's street-facing side.

"Floor-to-ceiling glass and an outdoor patio will front Lyndale, with lots of TVs playing sports and a full kitchen that opens for breakfast on weekends," reports the Southwest Journal. Bands "from country to The Current" are expected to play the room, filling some of the void left in the neighborhood music scene by the closing of Cause Spirits & Soundbar (now the Iron Door Pub).

The old-school bar and karaoke room will remain unchanged, Post 246 Commander Gary Miller tells the Southwest Journal. That was a point insisted upon by the venue's regulars, who include veterans from millennials to the Greatest Generation.

According to the Southwest Journal, the renovation is expected to be complete by late this month or early next month, and it's funded by proceeds from parking lot air rights sold to the apartment complex that now looms over the local institution.