City officials are eyeing a possible bus depot near the Kohl Center that could provide students an alternate stop to pick up buses in the downtown area.

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said at a Bassett neighborhood meeting Monday developers are looking to create a mixed-use building that could be situated at the corner of North Bedford Street and West Washington Avenue. The development is still in the planning stages but would likely house an inner city bus station and potentially a train station, he said.

Verveer said the proposers of the project are currently working with the bus company in order to determine the exact location because the project is a private development. He said the majority of bus services are on campus and  companies would like to continue that trend with a new station nearer to students.

“The bus company said they won’t put a bus depot somewhere that is not adjacent to campus,” Verveer said.

The questions of how this would affect the bus system on campus, including the stop at Memorial Union, have yet to be answered by city committees, Verveer said.

Although the proposal is still in the planning phases, Verveer said there is a chance it may break ground by next year.

The South Capitol Transit Oriented Planning Committee already held a workshop on the project and will meet again in October in order to determine more of the details, he said.

Members of the Bassett Neighborhood Association also heard a presentation from the owners of Echo Tap, a popular bar on the 500 block of West Main Street,  on the possibility of extending its patio hours.

Susan Bulgrin and Patrick Rynes, the owners of Echo Tap, said the restaurant and bar needs to extend its patio hours to 1 a.m.  in order to facilitate patrons who wish to stay later for events such as trivia night. Bulgrin said asking patrons to leave earlier in the evening ruins the atmosphere of the restaurant because the inside of the venue becomes too crowded.

“We’re taking something that is more of a neighborhood bar and making it a destination for people to go as a restaurant as well as a bar,” Bulgrin said.

She said she would also like to lift the sound restrictions on the bar that do not allow music or television to be played outside. She said the current restrictions put a damper on the night for patrons who want to watch sports games.

The bar is currently unable to open the patio later under the structure of their liquor license because external drinking requires a conditional use permit that is determined by the Plan Commission, Verveer said.

He said the owners and managers run “a good, clean establishment” which would help their clause. He said many residents who are neighbors to Echo Tap have voiced their support for the bar, which hosts a variety of clientele, including many students and young professionals.