Bill Garvie Jr.: “We’re trying to keep the feel of the whole place, the way it was.”

TONY JUDNICH @Tonyjnwfdn

FORT WALTON BEACH — Brothers Joe Garvie and Bill Garvie Jr. have reopened the historic bar named after their late grandfather, Theo “Docie” Bass.

Their version of “Docie’s Dock,” on the east side of the old Staff’s Restaurant building, still has the tin ceiling, a billiard table and other features found at the original Docie’s. New additions include an expanded area with seating for more than 30 customers, as well as dartboards and six flat-screen TVs.

Overall, though, “We’re trying to keep the feel of the whole place, the way it was,” Bill said Thursday inside the bar at 24 Miracle Strip Parkway.

He and Joe opened the business in early January and plan to celebrate its grand opening with drink and food specials on Super Bowl Sunday.

The brothers also have big plans for the restaurant space that adjoins the bar: They’ve partnered with restaurateurs from Jessup, Georgia, who plan to renovate the space and use it for a German restaurant. The eatery will have seating for about 200 customers.

“Docie” Bass served on the Fort Walton Beach City Council for 21 years, and he and his wife were instrumental in the original Billy Bowlegs organization. Docie was the son-in-law of Theo Staff, founder of Staff’s Restaurant and longtime operator of the even more historic Gulfview Hotel next door.

On Thursday, Docie’s daughter and Bill and Joe’s mother, Martha (Staff-Bass) Garvie, left her nearby Aunt Martha’s Bed and Breakfast to meet her sons in the bar. Her grandfather, Theo Staff, used the arched-roof building at 24 Miracle Strip Parkway for his Studebaker dealership before he converted it into Staff’s Restaurant in 1931.

Docie later assumed proprietorship of the restaurant with his brother, Cecil. The bar connected to the restaurant was for many years known as the “Rep Room,” for the customers who did business with Eglin Air Force Base.

And in the days that followed the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the men who would become known as Doolittle’s Raiders were regular customers at Staff’s on Friday evenings.

The restaurant’s bar became Docie’s Dock in 1981 after Docie Bass passed away. It continued to serve patrons until 2013, when it along with Staff’s Restaurant closed.

The Spot Bar & Lounge opened at the site in August 2016 but only remained in business for roughly half a year.

On Thursday, Martha recalled that Bill and Joe worked in Staff’s Restaurant while they were growing up. Bill remembered how he cleaned pots there as a 5-year-old boy and later advanced to bussing tables, waiting on customers and prepping and cooking food.

In recent years, “Everyone we talked to wanted to run a bar but didn’t want to serve food” in the history-filled building, Joe said. “My brother and I wanted to run a bar, and (with the planned German restaurant), it works well for everyone.”

The new Docie’s Dock pays tribute to Docie Bass and also honors the memory of Joe and Bill’s late father, William Garvie Sr., who died last May. Bill Sr. was a former civic leader, City Council member and FBI special agent who managed Aunt Martha’s Bed and Breakfast with his wife.

“This would have been Dad’s dream to see it open,” Joe said of the new Docie’s Dock.

The Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce stands immediately east of the bar and planned restaurant. Martha said she and her sons have an agreement with the chamber that will allow the bar/restaurant customers to park at the chamber’s parking lot.

The family also plans to clear some trees between the chamber and Aunt Martha’s in order to provide additional parking spaces.

Docie’s Dock is open at 4 p.m. daily and occasionally features live music. For more information, call 850-810-5555 or visit the bar’s Facebook page.