BINGHAMTON, NY (WIVT/WBGH) – Former Binghamton Mayor Rich David is maintaining his commitment to downtown with plans to open an outdoor beer garden.

David plans to build a 2-story structure, set back from the street, with a large outdoor seating area here on Washington Street.

It’s the former location of the Royal Lounge, which burned down in a spectacular fire on New Year’s Eve in 1999.

The lot has sat vacant since and David purchased it about a decade ago.

The building will have a restaurant bar with seating for about 100.

Outside will be a dozen or more picnic tables with hanging lights and nice landscaping.

And David says the building facade will be brick with historic lighting to match the character of the block.

He says this project is in keeping with his efforts as Mayor to revitalize downtown.

Owner Rich David says, “It’s just a great opportunity to take what is essentially a vacant, blighted lot that has been devoid of any sort of activity and inject some more economic activity into downtown, spruce i tup, create some jobs, create some activity. And continue to make downtown more of a destination.”

David says he hopes to complement nearby restaurants and taverns, not compete with them.

The restaurant will have a full bar, but the only craft beer he plans to sell will be from his family’s brewery, the Cortland Beer Company.

David says he’s on an aggressive timeline as he wants to finish this and a couple of other development projects before resuming his political career and running for elected office next year.

Check out the project renderings below.