Repaired and ready: Venue where a young Dylan played reopens
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Bob Dylan would surely still recognize the low-ceilinged room in Caffe Lena where he played a couple of gigs almost 60 years ago.
But just about everything else about a venue that bills itself as the nation’s oldest continuously operating coffeehouse has undergone some major upgrades as part of a $2 million renovation project bankrolled in part by folk music performers themselves.
Dylan performed twice there early in his career, when the young singer born in Minnesota as Robert Zimmerman was just making his way onto New York City’s folk scene. The same brown wooden shutters bracket the windows and the same exposed brick wall provides background for the corner where he sang and played acoustic guitar during weekend performances in 1961 and ’62.
But the old plank floor worn smooth by countless tapping feet is gone, replaced by a new hardwood version. The narrow staircase leading to the second-floor venue also has been replaced, as has the small stage, sound system, kitchen and restrooms. Seating has been boosted from 85 to about 105, and wine and beer are being served for the first time in the venerable coffeehouse’s history.