Longtime Adams Street bar could be reborn as much the same

Proposed purchasers of Sonny's, 750 Adams St. in Dorchester, who include a manager at the recently shuttered Littlest Bar, say they are planning extensive renovations that will result in a similar neighborhood bar.

At a Boston Licensing Board hearing this morning, their attorney, Carolyn Conway, said the new bar, called Industry, would feature comfort food to go with the drinks. "It's not too much different from what's there now," she said, adding, however, that one new addition would be the ability to convert part of the seating area into a private dining room for up to 50 people for christenings, after-funeral meals and the like. The front of the bar would be replaced with windows that could open in warm weather.

"We intend to stay a neighborhood bar," she said of co-owners Martin Davis, a former manager at the Littlest Bar downtown, and David Arrowsmith.

Conley estimated the renovations could take three to four months.

Representatives from several elected officials spoke in favor of the proposed license transfer. Nobody spoke against.

The board decides tomorrow whether to allow the transfer.