The operators of Mama’s CrowBar, a neighborhood pub on Munjoy Hill in Portland, and the owner of the building that houses it have reached an agreement allowing the bar to stay through the end of its lease in the fall.
The bar had received an eviction notice last week that the building’s owner said was for nonpayment of rent. Tricia Pryce Henley, who operates the bar, said nobody came by to get the rent check, as was usually the case.
David Turesky, lawyer for the building’s owner, Shane Dobson, said Henley didn’t want to pay the base rent until Dobson provided supporting material justifying additional charges for her share of insurance, property taxes and other communal expenses.
Turseky and Henley’s attorney, John McVeigh, worked out an agreement so the bar can remain open, the rent gets paid and the supporting material is provided.
The small, eclectic bar, which serves only beer – most of it brewed in Maine – has a loyal following.
Henley has operated the bar since 2009. The building sold in 2013 and just before it did, the previous owner tried to evict her, saying she did not have a written lease.
Henley then went to court and convinced a judge she was entitled to a three-year lease extension.
That lease runs out Oct. 1 and Henley says she will be leaving at that point, planning to focus more on her poetry.
Henley – a prominent figure on the local poetry scene – was headed to Albuquerque, New Mexico Tuesday to represent Portland in the Women of the World Poetry Slam, an annual poetry competition held each year.
The potential loss of the CrowBar struck a nerve on Munjoy Hill, where another neighborhood bar, Sangillo’s, closed in February.
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