Scotty’s Taphouse opening soon in former Slingshot space in Scott's Addition

State of play: Some of the folks behind Southern Railway Taphouse in Shockoe Slip are breathing new life into Slingshot. Scotty's event manager Kaitlyn Drummond tells Axios.

• The new owners, who want to stay behind the scenes, plan to bring live music and a full-service, classic American food menu to the 1304 MacTavish Ave. space.
• Slingshot closed last month after five years in business, following the closure of similar eat-and-play concepts, Circuit Arcade Bar and Tang & Biscuit.

"This was an incredible off-market opportunity. The former operator was contemplating a change in concept, so we reached out at the perfect time to take it off his hands," says commercial real estate agent Nathan Hughes with Sperity Real Estate Ventures, who helped put together the deal last month.

Zoom in: To execute their vision, the Scotty's team is keeping what worked about Slingshot — the beer wall, duckpin bowling and skee-ball, and removing what didn't (a very basic and bare-bones food menu created in a tiny kitchen).

• That means a full gut renovation of the kitchen, which is happening now.
• Once that's done, ideally next month, Scotty's should be open for business.

Yes, but: You can get a sneak peek of the space at its Pop-up Halloween Party on Saturday, Oct. 26.

• There will be cocktails, food, live music and a costume contest — with no cover charge.