A delay because of city code regulations has slowed expansion plans for Dutch’s Hamburgers, but a managing partner with the restaurant is hopeful construction will be underway soon.

The South University Drive burger joint had planned to open a bar in the space previously occupied by Dirty Laundry, a boutique that closed last year. Plans hit a snag because of Fort Worth’s fire code.

“City code states that when your occupancy load reaches 100, you have to have some kind of fire prevention,” said managing partner Kay Greenlee.  “They were wanting us to put in a fire sprinkler system. We don’t have the line to our building to do that, plus they are really, really expensive.”

Greenlee said she’s working with the city to find an alternative, which will allow construction to resume in the coming weeks.

“We met with the city and they gave us some other options,” Greenlee said. “So we are redoing our plans to show those other options.”

Greenlee said the expansion should give Dutch’s several features she hopes will draw in more customers.

She hopes a new bar with more televisions will  attract more sports fans. The bar area will be called “Dutch’s Locker Room.”

Greenlee also said that a full bar is being considered – right now Dutch’s only serves a selection of beer, wine and two frozen mixed drinks.

To-go orders will be handled in the remodeled area and new to-go parking will be available behind the building.

Greenlee hopes the changes will allow more space for families while also creating an avenue to bring in new customers.

“We kind of want to be a place where faculty, staff, alumni and students can come to sit in a relaxing atmosphere, have a drink or two, and watch some sports,” Greenlee said.

The new target date for the completion of these renovations is sometime in April or May.