Haxel takes over ownership of Port’s Place, hopes to have renovations finished by Thanksgiving

QUINCY — Blaise Haxel always has wanted to own and operate his own bar.

After negotiations with another bar owner fell through late this summer, Haxel visited with Sonny Settles, owner of Port’s Place, 510 Jersey.

“What really intrigued me about Port’s Place is any time I came in, I always felt like family,” Haxel said. “Debbie (Settles) always was bartending, and Sonny always was sitting right here in his spot. Negotiations for another deal kind of fell through, and I called Sonny that night after it fell through.

“I had actually talked to him probably three or four years ago about what (Sonny and Debbie) were planning on doing. Sonny was still playing in his band at the time. He was still playing on stage three nights a week, doing his thing. So I recently called and said, ‘Hey, I know you’re getting a little bit older.’ And he said, ‘Yeah.’ We had to deal in place about a week later.”

Haxel: ‘I’ve always wanted to own a bar’

Sonny and Deb Settles had a retirement party at Port’s Place on Sept. 25. Haxel and his wife, Caylin, bought the bar on Sept. 30. 

Haxel hopes to have renovations completed by Nov. 15, allowing for a soft opening before opening for good on Nov. 24 — the day before Thanksgiving.

“We’ve got some incredible family and friends who have been here every day since we’ve bought the place,” he said. “I’m not as handy as I want to be, but I can always throw trash out or get something out of the way to get something done. My wife and I have been here every day. We’re just kind of keeping the pedal to the metal to get this ready.”

Haxel, 32, also is an agent for Gem City Insurance in Quincy and one of the city’s most accomplished amateur golfers. He plans to leave the clubs at home a little more often as he gets his start in the bar business.

“I’ll be here as the owner as much as I possibly can afford to be here,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to own a bar. I’ve thought it would be more of like a sports bar-type of place, but that doesn’t mean that this can’t be, right? My wife and I wanted to do something. We just decided this was the time. While we’re young, let’s get it.”

Bar getting facelift to ‘make it a little bit prettier’

The first decision Haxel and his wife made upon becoming owners was not to change the name of the bar.

“We were looking into changing it,” Haxel said. “We had a few different names picked out, but Port’s Place just kind of rolls off the tongue.

“Caylin and I met Sonny down here one night, and we had actually decided earlier that day that we were probably just going to keep the name ‘Port’s Place.’ Sonny happened to ask, ‘Hey, are you going to change the name? What are you going to do with the building? We told him our plans for the building, and he asked again, ‘Well, are you going to change the name?’

“And Caylin and I both said ‘Port’s Place’ at the same time. He started crying.”

Haxel said Porter Settle owned a bar called Cannon Smoke near Fourth and Maine in 1978 and renamed it Port’s Place. Sonny Settles bought the building in 1984 and kept the name. That building was destroyed by fire in 1998, and Settles moved the bar to its current location in March 1999.

The old bar at Port’s Place has been removed, and Haxel has gutted the inside. New paint, new ceiling tiles and new lights are planned with the new bar. He will keep two gaming machines and add two dart boards for local dart leagues. 

“We’re not changing anything about the layout of the bar,” Haxel said. “We’re just giving it a facelift and making it a little bit prettier. A lot of my friends, when we were growing up, loved coming down to Port’s Place and do some karaoke. We’re going to bring back that late-night karaoke.”

Haxel hopes to work with Quincy Preserves facade program

Haxel also plans for the bar to remain a place for live bands to perform. When bands aren’t performing, he wants to use the space for indoor cornhole tournaments.

The second floor of the building, unused for several years, will be renovated for office space and a banquet hall area.

The front of the building facing Jersey Street is covered by yellow tin. Haxel wants to remove all of it and restore the brick front. 

“There’s old-style windows are in the front office space area, but they are all covered up right now by the tin,” Haxel said. “The idea is to get the Quincy Preserves facade program involved. We’re going to take off the tin whenever we get to it and restore the windows to what was previously underneath there.”