A Hamilton sports bar has moved feet away from where it operated for seven years.

Bulldogs Bar welcomed customers to its new home at 22 and 24 Court Street in May after about five months of planning and renovations.

Michael Jones opened the bar at 28 Elliott Street in 2017 but arranged to move out because the people who bought the building had different plans.

Mr Jones said last year: “I said ‘we should just go across the way, get out of here and find somewhere more secure for the next ten years or so’.”

Plans were submitted in 2024 to place the bar in a commercial space that had been vacant for at least six years.

Mr Jones said this week: “Construction didn’t take that long — we had to build the bar, put another bathroom in, paint the inside and outside and do some electrical work.”

He added: “I’m happy with the new location, reception from customers has also been great, business is slowly but surely starting to pick back up.

“We have a good clientele. Many live in the area and frequent Court Street bars. I’d like to thank them for their support.”

The Department of Planning approved a proposal, submitted by Donita Stevens, to change the old bar on Elliott Street into a laundromat last year.

A trenching permit is needed to connect potable water to the site, which is less than 200 metres away from Al’s Laundromat on Brunswick Street.