The Sherbrook Inn is slated to undergo a renaissance under new ownership, the Winnipeg Free Press reports.

Local entrepreneur Neil Soorsma bought the West Broadway area property in mid-May, according to the report. The property’s former owners previously closed the bar but kept the living quarters over it open.

Soorsma told the Free Press that he plans to create an “upper-scale” version of the hotel by refurbishing the bar, reopening the beer vendor, updating the hotel rooms and creating a live music venue.

He will also consider establishing a restaurant after the popular Tallest Poppy eatery vacated the hotel in May 2023.

“We’re going to incrementally change it, we’re not going to come in and rip everything down or kick out people that have nowhere to go,” he said Monday.

“It’s a good, solid building. It doesn’t need a lot,” he said. “It’s just been sliding for a few years.”

Some violent incidents have occurred around the property, according to the Free Press. But Soorsma, a long-time resident of the area, dismissed the idea that it is unsafe.

He voiced plans to keep the rooms available for long-term stays and advertise for short-term tenants.

Soorsma also owns Winnipeg’s Royal Albert Arms Hotel.