LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE)—After 64 years of business, a local bar is closing soon. One of many institutions in the Hikes Point neighborhood.

Hikes Point Bar and Lounge has been inviting customers inside since 1960. The illuminated sign hanging on the windows shows that ladies are also invited.

“When we opened here, most of the bars in Louisville were bachelor bars. Women couldn’t sit at the bar, you couldn’t run the bar, you couldn’t have a credit card in your name,” Mary Lou Meyer said.

Meyer’s husband, Leonard, was just 25 when he opened the bar in a strip mall on Taylorsville Road. Mary Lou says she and her girlfriends spent many nights there.

“We had a drink we liked. It was called Wild Türkiye. We would sit there and each of us would do some shooting. We’d drink the shot and ask, “How was the turkey?” we would say. “Gobble it up, gobble it up, gobble it up,” said Mary Lou.

The McCubbin family owned a shoe store next door. Sharon McCubbin was just 13 years old when Hikes Point Bar opened. Many called it Leonard’s Place. Four generations of the McCubbin family have been going there since. The bar would close at 4am and reopen at 6am

“There were many times we went to Denny’s on DuPont and came back at six o’clock,” recalled Rick McCubbin. “It wasn’t much, but we did it.” Rhonda Lucas has been bartending here for forty years. He could name everyone sitting at the bar.

Not much has changed since 1960, not even the women’s toilets. Leonard was at his bar most days, where he kept the prices low.

“’Who raised the price of the fireball?’ he said. Mary Lou remembered. So I said, I did it. One dollar.”

Leonard died in August at the age of 88.

Her younger sister, Teresa Meyer, has been running the bar ever since.

“The original bar. That is, 60 years of wear. You can understand that,” Teresa said.

The Meyer family decided it was time to sell the institution. They had a big party to celebrate, just like Leonard would have wanted.

I hate to see you go. There are so many fun memories here,” Rick said.

The McMahan family, which owns the strip mall, is purchasing the bar. They plan to renovate and add an Irish twist. There is a ‘Ladies Are Invited’ sign. It’s just being carried through the window.

“I don’t feel bad about this. We had a great trip here,” Mary Lou said.

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