The Turf and its owner have cleared a major hurdle in the off-campus bar’s reopening.

The City of Fargo has cleared Pete Sabo to clean and fix the building.

In July of 2016 the Bison Turf, a popular bar just off campus on University Drive, experienced a fire that caused damage to much of the second floor.

Despite the damage, owner Pete Sabo assured the public that the Turf would reopen as soon as he got a building permit from the City of Fargo. It took much longer than Sabo expected.

As soon as the permit is approved by the city, Sabo has plenty of plans lines up for the Bison Turf.

Sabo estimates that once he’s granted approval, the rebuilding will take approximately one to two months, with a $1 million bill.

The extent of the rebuilding isn’t just repairing the damage caused by the fire, but also bringing an old building up to today’s safety codes.

The building, originally built in 1934 with an addition in the 1950’s, has a lot of catching up to do before it can reopen its doors.

At the end of all the repairs the total cost of the rebuilding will be upwards of $70,000, which is the cost of the updated fire extinguishing system alone.

Sabo considers himself lucky because none of the employees or any furniture were harmed by the fire.

In fact, the extent of the fire expanded to the second level and water damage to the walls.

Along with bringing the building up to code, Sabo plans to create and expand a new second-floor bar with a 30-foot by 70-foot patio deck and new office and bathroom space.

One addition means new coolers for cooler beer.

The bar will also be accommodated with twice the heating and cooling capacity as it did in the past.

Despite the expanded space, the parking lot will be cut in half and shrubs will be put in to spruce up the place.

The updated building will look vastly the same, save a few expansions, and the old employees will be welcomed back to their jobs.

Sabo expects that the renovations will bring even more people to the Turf along with more profit and more Bison spirit.

Sabo said the process has been a “learning experience” where he’s really become educated on the safety of his building.