The long-anticipated announcement has come from People’s Park.

The popular bar/restaurant will re-open on Dec. 19 after a fire severely damaged the building earlier this year, according to its Facebook Page.

“We picked an opening date!!! Get ready for some sweet potato fries,” its post states.

 An early morning Feb. 8 fire significantly damaged People’s Park, which first opened in December 2008. Five inches of water was left standing on the ground after firefighters knocked down the blaze.

But instead of just fixing the damage and re-opening right away, the owners – Dan and Jim Taylor – decided to expand to the second floor instead. People’s Park also has city approvals for rooftop dining.

“We have been talking about expanding for a long time, but we were trying to save money to do it,” Dan Taylor told Waukesha Patch in April. “We would have had to close the restaurant to expand but because of the fire, we had the opportunity because we are down. We can use the opportunity while we are down to expand then we don’t have to shut it down in the future.”