Brick owner bringing new concept to downtown

Published 8:15 am Wednesday, September 20, 2023

The downtown property at 128 W. Hancock St. has been stuck on “pause” for over six years now, but that’s getting ready to change. 

The Brick owner Frank Pendergast in 2017 purchased what for a long time had been DoDo’s Pool Hall, and he’s about to hit “play” on what will be a new concept within the landscape of downtown Milledgeville. Work continues toward getting Black Sheep Barcade, a combined bar and arcade atmosphere, ready to open to the gaming and drinking public. 

“We’re trying to create yet another concept for downtown that’s different from everything else,” Pendergast said. “Black Sheep Barcade is going to be just that. We’ll have some of the older traditional arcade games, some newer arcade games, pool tables, darts, things like that.”

Black Sheep Barcade will cater to the 21 and older crowd while offering drinks, some food, and the aforementioned gaming amenities. Pendergast shared that the dive bar will be open six days a week (closed on Sundays) with hours from 6 p.m. to midnight or 2 a.m. depending on the day. 

The application for on-site alcohol sales and consumption was approved by Milledgeville City Council last week, and the restaurateur/businessman expects that application to be returned by the state within a week.

“I would say within a month we should be open for business,” Pendergast said. 

Brick employee GW Brooks, son to the late Mitch Brooks who co-founded The Brick along with Pendergast 30 years ago, will serve as Black Sheep’s operator. 

The term “barcade” was coined when the first of what became a chain of bar-arcades under the Barcade moniker opened in Brooklyn in 2004. The company has nine locations now, according to its website. Although it’s a similar concept, Black Sheep is not under the national Barcade umbrella. Downtown Macon has a bar-arcade establishment called Reboot Retrocade & Bar.