Alex Slitz/Daily News Marian Robbins (from left) and Maggie McAllister, both of Cambridge, Md., watch as Meaghan Poyer, of Charleston, SC., shoots pool, friday night at Three Brother 2.

Three downtown Bowling Green bars closed in the last month, but the beer is flowing again in one of them.

With some live music, drink specials and some sprucing up, Three Brothers Bar reopened under new management over the weekend after shutting down temporarily.

“We were really busy this weekend,” said Amie Gammon, who just took over management of the bar at 330 E. Main Ave. that was founded by her uncle in the 1970s and was later run by her father, who still owns the business, but had not been running it in recent years.

While Gammon sees the beer glass as being half full, two other downtown bars – Brewing Co. on Park Row and Froggy’s on College Street – remain empty.

Other downtown bar owners are trying to remain optimistic.

Business has been down this past year at State Street Pub and Ellis Place, a combination of the economy, an isolated location and competition, owner Steve Ellis said.

Ellis has operated his businesses for 11 years – both places share a building on State Street. Ellis Place serves as a club and an event venue, and State Street Pub caters to the bar crowd. While Ellis Place’s business was up about 15 percent compared to 2008, Ellis’ overall business, including at State Street Pub, was sluggish last year, Ellis said.

Ellis says about 80 percent of his business is derived from special events. As people cut back on events, such as wedding receptions and company parties, business took a hit.

“Business has not been that good this past year,” he said. “Companies started cutting out a lot of banquets … they started cutting out a lot of Christmas parties.”

While Ellis Place was one of a few special event venues when it opened, Ellis now competes against newer venues in town.

Although new developments, such as Circus Square Park and Bowling Green Ballpark, have made his spot more visible, it’s still in a somewhat isolated part of downtown, Ellis said.

“We’re not in the downtown loop. People don’t get out and walk like (they do on) Second (Avenue) in Nashville,” he said. “So, we’re sort of down there by ourselves. I’d think 11 years later we’d have a neighbor … business brings business.”

Ellis opened his venue after yearning for a local place that would attract good bands. After years of organizing events for friends, he decided to combine his two passions.

“I’m a typical baby boomer – I grew up all of my life thinking I knew everything there was to know about music,” he said, adding he played in a few bands growing up. “I just love music, and then I have a pretty good reputation of being a good host and a good entertainer.”

Still, the bar business has remained steady over the years, and Ellis said he expects the recent closures of Brewing Co. and Froggy’s to bring more customers to his neighborhood.

“I don’t know that it’s affected our numbers in a positive way yet, but I think it probably will,” he said.

Similarly, Bill Smrtic, co-owner of Fluid Nightclub in Fountain Square, said he expects some new clients to venture from the closed bars to his club.

“Just in the past couple of weeks, people have come to check us out for the first time since they didn’t have no other place to go,” he said.

Fluid doesn’t usually attract the college crowd, he said, “but, at the same time, people who were going to other places didn’t realize what our place is like.”

Business has been good since Fluid opened last year, Smrtic said. One obstacle for Fluid, which feels more like a big-city night club than a small-town honky-tonk, has been off-the-wall rumors about the club.

“People didn’t know what to expect,” he said, adding he heard rumors that the club enforced expensive cover charges and that it’s an oxygen bar. “We’ve heard rumors that we charge people to sit down.”

When Smrtic first moved to Bowling Green three years ago, the downtown night scene seemed busier than it is today, he said.

As the economy tanked, Smrtic noticed many people stopped going to bars through the week and mainly went out Thursday through Saturday.

Now, downtown bar owners need to make the area a hot spot for a night on the town, he said.

“I really think one of the keys as far as the downtown area is to unify and make downtown a destination (instead of) a specific club,” he said.

Gammon said the recent closures of other bars “just gives more business to the ones that are still afloat.”

Gammon remembers being in Three Brothers on Sundays as a child, playing pinball or pool and listening to the juke box. Her father, Andy Kieffer, was back in Three Brothers over the weekend to see the change in atmosphere.

“Dad had not seen many nights like I had on Saturday night,” Gammon said. “To see my dad smile again, that makes me happy.”

— City editor Jeff Beach contributed to this article.