Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood Fund a Police Substation Next to His Nashville Bar (2024)

Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood used their own funds to finance a police substation next to his Nashville bar, Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky Tonk, which officially opened its doors Thursday.

On Monday, the Metro Nashville Police Department posted a video on X (formerly Twitter), of some of their officers turning on a large blue “POLICE” sign in a ceremony to open up the office, located right on Broadway.

“[Chief of Police John] Drake just activated the blue POLICE substation sign next to @FriendsBarNash,” the post read. “@garthbrooks & @trishayearwood financed the build out of the space, and the sign, for our Entertainment District Unit officers.”

Brooks, 62, partially opened the bar back in November in a popular area of Nashville's South Broadway District — but its first full day of operation was Thursday.

The “Friends in Low Places” singer has long expressed his interest in getting local police involved with the opening of the bar — when it was first being built in 2022, Brooks initially expressed interest financing a police station next to his bar, and when construction of the bar started last year, the station was underway.

“... We created an Entertainment District Unit, and it needed a place to be able to operate, a place they could call their own and not go to Central Precinct,” Chief Drake said Monday. “They could have a substation that's all theirs.”

“It's a time when people are kinda pulling away. They can see, ‘Hey, people here are invested in us and invested in the great work that our men and women are doing.' And it's just an exciting time,” Drake added in the clip. "It's a historical time to see this happen.”

Friends in Low Places is a major addition to the Nashville entertainment district — consisting of four floors, over 54,000 square feet, plus the largest LED screen on Broadway, the venue is set to have live performances and a food menu curated by the Trisha's Southern Kitchen host, 59.

The venue has already been to several major events — in November, Brooks hosted an Amazon Music Live event where he performed a few of his major hits and spoke about the ethos behind the bar, as well as why he didn’t put his name on it.

“This town has been amazing to me,” Brooks said at the time, standing on the venue’s stage and speaking to the crowd. “When this [opportunity] popped up, the thought was, does Garth Brooks owe Nashville? You bet Garth Brooks owes Nashville. So, I’m looking at Lower Broadway, going, it’s not the fact that Garth Brooks is missing, but ‘Friends in Low Places’ is missing here … So that’s why it’s not the Garth Bar. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: You can like Garth Brooks. You cannot like Garth Brooks. Either way, chances are, you probably sang ‘Friends in Low Places.’”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“This is for those next guys,” Brooks added, referring to the up-and-coming performers who will perform on the bar’s stage. “They get to come here and play. And I’m gonna admit this: It’s too nice! … Ain’t no honky-tonk I was raised in looks like this, right?”

Friends in Low Places Bar also drew controversy from conservatives in June 2023, when he announced that he would sell Bud Light beer at the venue, much to the chagrin of those who boycotted the alcohol company for working with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

“I want it to be a place you feel safe in. I want it to be a place where you feel like there are manners and people like one another,” Brooks said at the time. “And yes, we’re going to serve every brand of beer. We just are.”