GOODYEAR — Standing in the same spot for a century, an iconic bar in Goodyear is set to be leveled and relocated for a road widening project.
Back in the 60s, the late Roman Comer won a bet in a pool game that changed his life.
The eight-ball rolling into the corner pocket won Comer the rights to a series of bars across the Valley.
That eventually led him to own a slice of Arizona history on Yuma Road in Goodyear called Roman's Oasis.
"It's a sense of pride for us and a sense of joy because we get to tell the story," said owner Myra Curtis, Comer's daughter.
There's a black and white picture near a DJ booth of Curtis riding an enormous longhorn. She made it a point of pride that she took the photo for her late father's 55th birthday.
This picture sits near the front room, which was built in 1917. Although modern TVs and LED lights live in that room today, the space still holds its century-old roots.
West Valley farmers would gravitate to the watering hole and haven't stopped since.
The building lived through segregation, 20 presidents, and survived both a recession and a pandemic.
Mix-matched furniture and generations of cowboy memorabilia live in several rooms dedicated for two-stepping to live music, off-track horse betting, karaoke or a hearty meal after a hard day's work.
The menu includes fried favorites you'd find at traditional bars like fried calamari or coconut-crusted shrimp, but the kitchen is run by a chef, not a cook. Curtis says her father was able to wrangle a chef from the white tablecloths of a Mastro's restaurant in Scottsdale. The menu includes seared ahi tuna, roasted bacon brussels sprouts, and an affordable ribeye steak.
"It's not just a bar, it's just a community center, it's not just a place to go to dance or drink or whatever. It's a community center," said Curtis.
Captain Morgan on the roof or the oversized rooster out front isn't as out of place as how close the bar sits to Yuma Road. By the bar, there's only one lane heading east.
The city has plans to widen the road, which means after 100 years of sitting in the same spot, Roman's Oasis is slated to be demolished and then relocated just feet from its current spot.
"My dad may or may not have encroached on that front area he built where the rooster is now, however it's time to correct that," Curtis said.
As the bar grew in popularity over the years, it needed more space. So Roman called on his friends for what Curtis called "midnight construction." The add-ons for the kitchen were built around a pine tree that sits in the middle of the walkway of the back door.
The new bar is slated to be 50 feet from the original location.
The big move is expected to start sometime in the spring of 2023. Curtis hopes to only stop serving for 2-4 weeks. No employees will be without work and even some bar patrons could be deputized to fill new jobs.
Curtis is calling on generations of regulars to help unscrew the memorabilia and help put it all in the new bar.
A labor of love for Curtis — who vows to make the new spot a place her old man would want to play pool, and then some.
"[My father] brought joy to everyone he met. They'll come back for that reason because they had a great time," she said.
