Opie Patterson reopens one of the most iconic clubs in the district
Posted on: December 8, 2020; Updated: December 8, 2020
By Craig Brandhorst, [email protected], 803-777-3681
If you think Five Points is just a college bar district, think again.
The downhill village has attracted students from South Carolina for more than a century, and not just to celebrate. And for many who settle in the Capital after graduation, Five Points remains an integral part of their lives.
“It’s an extraordinarily unique neighborhood and everyone is habitual,” said Kelsey Hennighan, executive director of the Five Points Association. “If you come any afternoon for lunch, or Sunday for brunch, or even for an early dinner, you see people outside eating, talking, you see people with their dogs – we are probably the most dog-friendly neighborhood in the world. City . ”
Hennighan would know. As director, she coordinates the district’s economic development, beautification and security efforts – not to mention the annual celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. But she also knows the scene, having worked as a host at Saluda’s as a graduate student before working in public relations at Spirit Communications.
“When I applied for the position of director, I kind of closed the circle,” she says.
Caroline has reached five alumni who, like Hennighan, are unable to take Five Points out of their system.
Opie Patterson – Goat’s
Goat’s is like Goatfeathers, but with renewed energy. This is according to Olando “Opie” Patterson, who reopened the iconic Five Points nightclub with his popular nickname in 2015, a year and a half after he disappeared from the local scene.
But the Columbia native and former marine science and media arts expert didn’t just take on Goatfeathers when original owner Jeff Helsley retired in 2014; he worked there from 1995 until the last call and, for most of that time, ran the show.
Initially a part-time bartender while working during the day at a camera store and pursuing a career as a photographer, Patterson soon found himself serving drinks full time at Goatfeathers and ended up being appointed manager. The bar, which drew an older crowd than most other Five Points bars, became the unofficial happy hour hangout for many Columbia lawyers, and Patterson became his public face.
This place needed a lot of love. Much love.
Looking at “Opie” Patterson
Except that he had his own ambitions and, in 2014, was planning to open his own restaurant and bar. He even chose a location – on Main Street, not Five Points – and could have made the jump if he could afford the building. But he didn’t want to invest in a new kitchen and make a rent. He had seen many other restaurateurs burned by their owners.
“And then I thought about it for a while,” he says. “I liked this place, I knew the area, I just needed to renovate the place a little and give it a new energy.”
But when rumors started circulating that goat feathers could return for a second act, Patterson neither confirmed nor denied them. “I didn’t really tell anyone until we opened it, because I didn’t want anyone to put me in an aquarium,” he says with a laugh. “This place needed a lot of love. Much love.”
A problem? Goatfeathers was a smoking establishment before the citywide ban, and years of cigarette and cigar smoke had permeated the walls. The bar and kitchen were also in bad shape.
Among the people Patterson entrusted to his secret plans were Scott Linaberry and Richard Burts, a restaurateur who became a developer.
“We walked around the building and I was telling them everything I wanted to do – redo the carpet, redo the floor – and they kept saying, ‘Opie, just open the door and get some money, open the door and get some money . ‘But my pride didn’t allow it. ”
It would take more than a year to open Goat’s, which, in retrospect, makes Patterson laugh. “Looking back, I probably should have just opened up and made some money,” he jokes. “But no, I really needed the job. It really did. ”
Patterson was invested, and not just financially. He was never a party guy in college – he was too busy interning at South Carolina Wildlife magazine, working as a lifeguard at the Maxcy Gregg pool and as an EMT at the Thomson Student Health Center on campus – but the bar became his second home, his career, your life.
“I wanted it to be the place that I remember coming to for the first time,” he says. “Of course, at that time Five Points was basically the only entertainment district in Columbia, so you can’t rest on your laurels. You have to earn everyone’s respect. ”
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Topics: Alumni, Darla Moore School of Business