Former bank on this Kansas City corner is now home to a bar and music venue

Banks often snap up the corner real estate in redeveloping neighborhoods, paying higher rents than mom-and-pops can tend to afford.

But at the intersection of 39th and Main streets, where an extension of the streetcar line is being built, the opposite has happened: A local bar has replaced a bank.

Hammers Dueling Piano Bar is now open at 3901 Main St. in the building formerly occupied by Great American Bank.

Hannah Dowell and her husband, Brett, own the bar. They met at Ernie Biggs, the dueling piano bar in Westport that closed in 2018. She was a piano player, and he was a customer. They’ve been married since 2012.

“He’s worked in the bar industry on and off for a long time and always wanted to own a bar,” Dowell said. “And I’ve been doing dueling pianos for 16 years now.”

The space, which sits beneath the KKFI 90.1 FM radio studios, is about 4,000 square feet and holds around 300 guests. Two baby grand pianos sit on a stage on the west end of the room.

Hammers doesn’t serve food, but the “fish bowls” will get you close to your daily calorie intake: a Chuck Berry (blueberry vodka, grape vodka, black raspberry liqueur, ginger ale, Sprite) goes for $22. House cocktails like the Killer Queen (Pusser’s Rum, pineapple juice, coconut, orange juice, nutmeg) and the Purple Rain (Tito’s, blue Curacao, raspberry liqueur, Sprite, lemon) run between $12 and $14.

Guests can enter off Main Street (look for the sandwich board sign) or the back door off the parking lot behind the building (look for the new patio where the bank’s drive-thru used to be).

Hammers hosts dueling piano nights on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays starting at 8:30 p.m. Sundays and Tuesdays are karaoke, and Wednesdays feature a live jazz cocktail hour from 5 to 8 p.m. with Jesica DeLong, aka Baby J. The bar is closed Mondays.