MORE ROOM FOR TOETAPPING
Mabou pub completing long-awaited expansion
Long-awaited expansion for Mabou’s The Red Shoe.
There is going to be a bit more space for toe-tapping at the Red Shoe Pub.
As part of a long-awaited expansion, the Inverness County mainstay has added roughly 450 square feet of indoor space where its former patio once stood.
Members of the famed music group, the Rankin Family, reopened the establishment in 2005 as a way of giving back to the community.
Heather Rankin, who owns the pub with sisters Cookie and Genevieve, said the expansion project will create room for an additional approximately 25-30 guests.
“It’s not a huge amount of people and that was deliberate because there’s a very special feeling the existing building has,” said the Halifax-based performer who grew up just down the road from the building.
“It’s just the vibe of the space has something magical. A few times we thought about doing it, and rather than expanding we did more structural work to the building. This time around it just felt like the right time. We wanted to take advantage of the patio space or the deck space in
all kinds of weather.”
The Rankin sisters worked with a local designer and carpenters from D.J. MacLean & Sons in Inverness County, to create a small space that adds to the main building but can also be used for private functions and bookings.
“We wanted to have something designed that really made it look like it was always a part of the building and I think we
were very successful,” said Rankin. “Often we are bursting at the seams and this allows us to put another terminal in where people can pay their bill and hopefully a corner bar so there’s not as much congestion around the existing bar.
“These are all things that may not happen immediately but hopefully over the next year.”
Since its initial construction, the pub building has served many purposes from being a general store, to a clothing store and then an insurance brokerage
“I think this is what it’s best suited for — entertaining,” said Rankin. “It’s well over 100 years old. When it was a general store my grandmother used to come down from Mull River with the horse and wagon and deliver eggs.”
Opening each year in late May or early June, Rankin said the pub stays open until the Celtic Colours International Festival wraps in mid-October. Throughout its annual season, there is live entertainment scheduled seven days a week.
Rankin attributes much of the pub’s success to manager, Angie Smith, who joined the team in 2007. This year, the Red Shoe will also welcome Steve Christie as its chef.
“The first couple of years we were open, I managed it and I was doing what Angie is doing and I’m really glad I did that because I have a better appreciation of the amount of energy it takes to do that job and all the little facets that are involved in keeping those wheels turning,” said Rankin.
“It’s a huge undertaking, so we’re very lucky to have Angie who puts in 150 per cent every day she’s there.”
Rankin said construction on the expansion started in November and is expected to wrap up in the coming weeks.