It may not be long before the former regulars of Skybox Bar and Grill are pulling up the same bar stools once again.
Closed since March, two sets of owners have battled with the city and worked with the state in order to reopen the Brown Street bar, which was twice denied liquor licenses by city councilors and the mayor because of the amount of police calls it generated.
The bar’s new owner, Allen Moore, said he expects the bar to open in the next three weeks.
“We’re getting closer and closer,” Moore said Tuesday. “This is definitely going to happen.”
Westbrook Code Enforcement Officer Rick Gouzie said the building still has to undergo an inspection by himself and Fire Capt. Chuck Jarrett, as well as get approval from the state fire marshal.
Former Skybox owner Tom Dore, who still owns the building, recently renovated the space in order to comply with the state’s Liquor Licensing and Compliance Division, which required a barrier to be built between the bar and the kitchen, where Dore’s wife, Ellen, runs a catering company.
With that provision, last month, the state overturned the City Council’s August decision to deny Moore a liquor license.
The council also denied renewing a license to the Dores, who had owned the bar for four years, in March. However, after several battles with the council, the Dores decided they didn’t want to fight the decision.
That’s when Moore and his wife, both patrons of the bar, decided they’d like to try to reopen it themselves.
“We’ve really had to do a lot of fighting for this,” said Moore, who originally hoped he’d be opening the bar on Labor Day. Because of the state’s requirements, he’s had to rethink his original plan a bit.
Moore had wanted to put a lot of focus on the menu, but because the kitchen and the bar can’t be connected, he’s going to have just a couple of specials every day, like shepherd’s pie or macaroni and cheese, to offer his patrons at a low price.
“We’ve had to change our concept around,” he said.
Moore already agreed with the City Council in August to make other changes to the bar – namely its hours of operation. The business will open at 2 p.m. and close at 11 p.m. on weeknights, and open at noon and close at midnight on Friday and Saturday.
“Our biggest challenge is just to overcome that idea of what it’s been for so many years,” Moore said about the bar, which has always been problematic for police and the neighborhood.
The council’s decision to deny the Dores and the Moores liquor licenses came about when police showed that they had received more calls for service at the Skybox than any other bar in the city.
Mayor Bruce Chuluda said he voted to deny the license because he wanted the owners to make their case to another body – meaning the state’s Liquor Licensing and Compliance Division, which he figured would overturn the decision.
“I’m pleased with how they want to take an approach to operate the business,” Chuluda said. “I think it could be a good thing if done right.”
City Councilor John O’Hara, however, doesn’t think a bar will ever be a good idea in that neighborhood.
“I just still believe it’s the wrong business in the wrong spot,” O’Hara said Tuesday.
According to Police Chief Bill Baker, Skybox’s reopening is “not good news for the neighborhood.”
He said he’s noticed a change on Brown Street since the bar closed in March.
“There has certainly been a lot less activity at that corner than when the bar is open,” he said.
But, he said, if Skybox reopens, police will handle it like any bar in the city – “in a fair and even-handed manner.”
One way Moore believes he’ll be able to keep trouble away from the bar is by being a hands-on owner. And he hopes people will come down, just to chat with him.
“Everybody’s welcome,” including the city councilors, he joked.
“We’re really excited to get it open,” Moore said. “We just want to run a nice place.”
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