The Red Rock bar is a downtown Reno spot that's been a gathering place on Sierra Street for the last 15 years.

"Red Rock is a community neighborhood bar where we feature local artists and try to provide everybody with a feeling that they're important," said owner Kevin McGehee. "This is a place we can have meaningful conversation and engage with each other."

The doors here have been closed since March.

"We closed the day before St. Patrick's Day," he said. "That was rough because you're geared up to have a big night and all of a sudden, it's not going to happen, so you figure out an alternate plan."

Now, as part of phase two, the doors here are open again.

"The first thing you have to do is thank Governor Sisolak and Mayor Schieve for having the courage and the foresight to recognize the lockdown was necessary, and I think they saved thousands of lives by doing that," McGehee said. "But now we're confronted with having to develop new ways to do the business we've been doing for the last 70 years one way, and now we have to do it another way."

Right now, bars have to keep to 50% capacity, and employees have to wear face coverings. McGehee has been re-arranging the seating, stocking up on cleaning supplies, and making sure the staff is ready for this phase - health and safety being top concerns now. The downstairs pool table area is still closed for now, but the hope is to still see a lot of familiar faces, back to show their support for local businesses that have been shuttered for months.

"We're going to be doing everything we can to make this still and entertaining and good time, because bars and pubs have always been a place to publicate, it's where people communicate, it's a community resource center," McGehee said. "The Constitution was written in a bar. So we want to restore the good things that happen in the bars and be positive about doing things proactively so we're protecting ourselves and the customers."

He says a lot of local bar owners are working together to navigate this new phase.

"We're all just talking about how we can come together and turn this into a positive experience as opposed to it being a negative experience," McGehee said. "Nobody knows what the actual consequences are going to be, but if you anticipate with caution and you're doing everything you can to keep people safe, what else can you do?"

Â