The Sweet Hereafter And Jackknife Crowd Focuses On Upcoming Sports Bar, Century

The men who gave Portland Jackknife, the Sweet Hereafter and the Bye and Bye—John Janulis, Liam Duffy, Ben Hufford, Ian David, Clyde Wooten and Jacob Carey—are in the midst of reimagining what a local sports bar should look and feel like.

And when it's all over, Century won't look like a sports bar, except when it does.

Here's their rather ambitious plan: They envision a bar that will have the layout of a high school basketball court—if the bleachers were made of mahogany and curved like long arcs.

The bar will go where one hoop would be, with additional seating where the other hoop would've gone. And descending from ceiling will be retractable screens on to which all kinds of games will be projected.

But when the games are over, the plan is to roll the screens back up and turn the floor—the court, as it were—over to bands, DJs and whomever feels like dancing. In fact, the fellas envision all kinds of events in the space, from weddings (and receptions) to Cocktail Week seminars.

In other words, Janulis says, the idea is that you'd never even know you were in a sports bar unless a game was playing. So TVs and neon signs are out.

The sextet is also investing heavily in AV equipment to create what they think will be an unrivaled sports (and music, and movie) experience.

Not much word on the food yet, but Carey says it will be thoughtfully prepared and made to be eaten with your hands—the long benches will have accompanying tables on which to rest your drinks and empties, but the seating's not designed to be a sit-down-and-cut-your-steak kind of experience.

Plans are also in place for a rooftop deck, with views of downtown, that will seat up to 80.

With all their fingers crossed, the men hope to open Century's doors by mid- to-late summer.

Stay tuned.

Century, 930 SE Sandy Blvd.