The Edition: Classy new city watering hole

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

It took six years of planning and a multi-year renovation of an historic downtown Van Wert building, but The Edition wine bar and tap room will officially open for business on Tuesday.

The new business, owned by Jim Collins and Cindy Collins Schumm of Collins Fine Foods, is located in the building that formerly housed Wilkinson Printing at 139 E. Main St. The Edition offers sandwiches, including burgers, as well as paninis, flatbreads, and appetizers, with 16 beers on tap, a listing of 30-40 wines, and a full bar that includes aged bourbon whiskey.

The bar is open from 4-10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 4-midnight on Friday and Saturday. It’s closed Sunday and Monday.

The Edition is an upscale watering hole that provides lots of ambiance in a building that oozes character. That didn’t happen overnight, Collins said, noting that after purchasing the historic downtown structure, the interior had to be gutted and rewired, replumbed, and new lighting fixtures added to bring it up to state codes, as well as create a simple, but elegant ,interior. 

The Edition includes sanded wood floors, tables, stools, and chairs, and a long bar built to order by National Door & Trim. The ornate, carved cabinetry behind the bar was taken from a former local taproom, The Century Bar, while a another bar from the former Don’s Den establishment was also acquired, but is currently being stored in a mezzanine area not open to the public until a place is found to utilize it.

There is a wooden telephone booth in a back seating area, while the outside wall is brick and opens into an outdoor seating area to the east of the building that includes bistro tables and chairs, with wrought iron fencing enclosing it.

“We’re really excited and all the work is finally starting to pay off,” Collins said, adding that the decision to purchase the bars from other former taprooms was due to a wish to preserve some of the city’s former history.

The building itself holds real significance for the new owners as well, since the year it was built, 1890, was also the year Colllins Fine Foods was established in Van Wert by earlier generations of their family.

“It’s something that has meaning for us,” Schumm said.