New Brookland Tavern is on the move, though where it will go has yet to be revealed.

The West Columbia rock dive, the longest continuously running music club in Lexington County, announced Sept. 27 that it will move out of its home at 122 State St. in December.

“Yes the building has been sold,” the venue posted to Facebook, noting that its current lease ends Dec. 31 and the final show in the space will be some time in mid-December. “Yes we are moving out.”

“We will announce the new location of New Brookland Tavern when the time is appropriate,” the post adds.

Last month, the club’s owner, Mike Lyons, announced that the building was up for sale and he had received an offer to purchase it for $700,000. The building was later listed for sale via RE/MAX for $774,900.

As it mulled the decision to buy its more-than-100-year-old home or move to another location, the bar launched the “Save New Brookland Tavern” online fundraiser via GoFundMe, having thus far raised more than $37,000 that will now go toward helping with an eventual move.

“New lease price was too expensive for the return,” Carlin Thompson, the sound engineer who books most of New Brookland’s shows and oversees the operation, told the Chronicle, speaking to the offer the club received from the building’s new ownership. 

“This area doesn’t work for us anymore, while a lot of national shows do great here the local ones tend to suffer due to no walk-through traffic. Someone tried quoting once that West Columbia was the future of the arts community for the scene, but it’s not. The costs of getting this building to where it needs to be is too high for the return. We have neighboring businesses calling the cops on us every other month due to buses from bigger acts — even when their businesses are closed or not bringing in people to the area.”

The reasons to move stretch beyond issues with the current space.

“Moving has given us an opportunity to find a place that feels like NBT, but also find one that is bigger and in a better/walkable area," Thompson added. "We want to be surrounded by businesses that make sense for us to be with and also where the youth is. Everyone’s go-to phrase for NBT is ‘I started going when I was a teenager’ so it makes sense for us to be where the youth is.”

The club, which Lyons has owned since 2004, has operated as a full-time music venue since at least 1998. It has hosted many well-known acts when they were up-and-coming, including Death Cab for Cutie, My Chemical Romance, My Morning Jacket, Brand New, Rilo Kiley, Band of Horses, Against Me!, Toro Y Moi and more.

Thompson took the time to address some pressing concerns about the venue as it prepares to move.