ORLANDO, Fla. — An old Orlando favorite returns next month, and it's getting a fresh coat of paint.

Wally's Mills Avenue Liquors closed last august after 64 years in business. The owner said he had to close the iconic dive bar because of his health.

Almost immediately there were efforts to try to save the bar. Among the perennial patrons who looked at buying Wally's was attorney John Morgan.

But instead, Minesh Patel bought the bar. 

"I kind of felt like the chosen one, the one that was handed a gift, to be honest with you," Patel said.

Last weekend, Spectrum News 13 anchor Ybeth Bruzual encountered Patel and artist Reid Pasternack as they worked on the bar.

Pasternack added some new touches to the exterior of the old building. Ybeth watched as he painted a design that pays tribute to the bar's mid-century modern architecture on the southwest-facing wall. 

Minesh Patel, meanwhile, said the interior of the bar also looks a bit different now, and he told Ybeth he was aiming for a mid-June opening date.

Pasternack's designs are adding a new element to the already-colorful Mills50 District with its plethora of murals.

Spectrum News 13's Ybeth Bruzual contributed to this report.