(Deep) Thoughts on the Skybox Closure

Nearly three weeks after the Ciy Council decided not to renew various licenses for the Skybox Bar and Grill, the owners of Skybox decided to drop their appeal to the state and closed their doors Tuesday night. Here are a few thoughts regarding the closure of Skybox Bar and Grill:

• Brown Street will be harmed in the long run.

Yes, we all know Brown Street has its share of, um, interesting characters and events. Considering the gradual exodus of hipsters from Portland to Westbrook, though, the Munjoy Hill neighborhood in Portland is a good example of what Brown Street may look like in the future: It has the potential to be transformed from a history-rich neighborhood with a soiled reputation to a thriving and proud neighborhood that features diverse businesses within walking distance of its neighbors. A bar (and other businesses that attract people, activity, and all the other things that make life worth living) should, therefore, be seen as a good thing to have in a neighborhood. But by essentially admitting that the rejection of Skybox's various licenses--and the bar's subsequent closure--had more to do with the bar's location than its conduct, the City Council is setting a frustrating precedent for future small-business owners. It's too bad this debate seemed to be more about Andy's Tavern than Skybox or the future bar that might complement the other businesses involved in the revitalization of this potential jewel of a neighborhood.

• City Councilors need to get out more.

Is anyone else a little disturbed that one of the city councilors voted to effectively shut down this small business ripe with improvements and investments, despite admitting he'd briefly been to bar only once? Call me naive, but I think the most effective way to know the city and businesses you are governing is to, you know, actually experience it for yourself a few times. It would be interesting, therefore, to poll the councilors to learn how many times they actually frequented Skybox, or any of the other businesses they're responsible for regulating (cough, tattoo parlors, cough).

• It was nice knowing you, Profenno's, Mill Side Tavern, et al.

Actually, I'm just kidding. Does anyone actually think the other bars in Westbrook will face as much scrutiny and suffer the same consequences as Skybox? Yeah, me neither. But if they do, I'll applaud the City Council for its consistency (Profenno's did, after all, generate only four fewer complaints to the Westbrook Police than Skybox from February 2007 to 2008).

But then I'll mutter profanities because by consistently shutting down the other bars in Westbrook, the council will effectively hamper the city's ability to attract younger people and give its citizens something to do without being forced into the car (or the bus) en route to other cities to spend their money. To be fair, the City Council (especially the councils before it) deserves credit for playing an instrumental role in cultivating Westbrook as a destination spot for an increasing number of Greater Portlanders. Now it's their jobs to protect our appeal and to grow it.

Shutting down solvent, law-abiding small businesses is not a step in the right direction.

- John C.L. Morgan

Is Skybox a Victim of a Brown Street Bias?

According to this article in the American Journal, the City Council rejected the Skybox Pub and Grill's liquor license (and four other relatively minor licenses) primarily because of the volume of complaints of fights, intoxication, and/or noise related to the Brown Street bar.

Now, I've been to Skybox only once. And, ironically, I departed shortly after I arrived because it wasn't rowdy enough. Nevertheless, if the volume of complaints was the City Council's preferred measure for whether Skybox's liquor license should be rejected or not, the Council may have opened themselves up for complaints of inconsistency.

According to the piece, Stockhouse Restaurant received 4 formal complaints, Fajita Grill received 4, Mill Side Tavern received 7, Profenno's received 9, and Skybox received 13 complaints from February 19, 2007 to February 19, 2008.

Considering these statistics, I think former City Councilor Ed Symbol was correct when he pointed to Skybox's one-complaint-per-month average as a relatively insignificant rate. And he was also correct when he said that by using this criteria, other bars like, say, Profenno's should face as much scrutiny as Skybox has endured when it's the Main Street bar's turn before the council in Room 114.

If that level of scrutiny isn't matched for bars on Main Street or Cumberland Street, it seems to me there is a bias against any bar on Brown Street, and that Skybox's foes are using the number of complaints as a red herring. If the City Council wants to shut down the bar because it's on Brown Street, it should part with the specious arguments and frankly state Brown Street should be barless.

Otherwise, the Council should be consistent and hold other Westbrook bars to the same standards. After all, the City Council shouldn't want complainers of those other bars to think it still doesn't care about their beefs.

- John C.L. Morgan

Paper City Pub Crawl: A Review

The first annual Paper City Pub Crawl in Westbrook was successful in the sense that I survived to write about it. As for attendance, let's just say a good time was had by all, um, two of us.

The night started at 6:45p when my friend Walter and I walked down Seavey Street to Mill Side Tavern. The crowd inside the bar was light, but heavily clad in flannel mackinaw coats. We each got a drink, Walter a Bud Light, and me a shot of whiskey from the "lowest shelf you have." The bartender obliged with a glass of Senator's Club. After we got our drinks, we hopped onto the unattended pool table.

Forty-five minutes and two games of 2v2 pool later, we were having a grand time. All irony aside, Mill Side Tavern was probably the most enjoyable experience of the night. I learned that I broke the rack "like a girl;" my pool partner, a Mill Side regular, dispensed the sageful advice that the most effective way to piss off my old lady was to always give into her and never fight back; and my fellow Pub Crawler and I shared edible shots. The shot glasses are made of chocolate and are about the size of medium-sized thimbles. Frankly, it's a bit of a rip-off, but at least I can tell my grandkids that I had an edible shot of Bailey's at Mill Side Tavern when I was young and wild. As for Walter, a few of the bar maids (who were very friendly, by the way) convinced him to forgo the Bud Light filling in favor of strawberry-flavored vodka. Good idea.

After a cold walk (this will be common theme, so I'll try to vary the way I phrase it) from Mill Side to Stockhouse via the old Portland & Rochester Railroad, we settled into a table at the restaurant. I felt a hint of culture shock when we first got into Stockhouse. We had just come from a cozy tavern with a fluid social space to a relatively sprawling and rigid restaurant in which each table is more like its own island than a place to merely park your drink or plate. We had appetizers, but left after a relatively unremarkable hour. Stockhouse is a better bar in, say, July or August than it is in January.

We hopped onto the railroad again after crossing Main Street (note to self: invest in one of those railroad handcars for the next crawl) en route to Skybox bar on Brown Street. The air was sharp, the railroad was caked with crusty snow, and a decision loomed ahead of us: Do we slide down the hill before we get to the Black Bridge and cross the Presumpscot via the metal footbridge, or do we cross the bridge and crawl down the hill onto Brown Street? We were feeling adventurus (or stupid, or influenced, or whatever other curse you prefer) and gingerly walked across the top of the bridge with black sky over our heads and black water below our feet.

Skybox was d-e-a-d, so we left after about thirty minutes. We did witness a man and woman outside threaten to shoot each other, though, so that was mildly entertaining. Oh well, Skybox's loss would be The Frog and Turtle's gain (we aren't egotistical or anything) because we would now able to squeeze in a visit to that heralded hot spot before ending our night at Profenno's.

Since it was a Friday night between 9 and 11p, The F&T offered a spot to cool our heels with live music. After enduring a half-hour of thumping in the dj'd Skybox, musician Tom Dee's mellow melodies were a welcome respite, as was the bar's laid-back atmosphere. Walter continued on his Bud Light binge, while I had my first Beefeater Gibson. I'm not generally a big fan of gin (forget about Moxie being the official beverage of the state, gin's pine-needley palette is the real taste of Maine), but it was actually a good drink. Next up was Profenno's, the bar where every night is a high school reunion.

Profenno's is the happy medium of all the diverse bars in Westbrook. The everyman's bar, if you will. It is there that Mill Side's coziness is complemented by Stockhouse's food menu. You can feel at home with a Budweiser in your mitts like you would at, say, Skybox, but you also wouldn't feel out of place if you were cradling a glass of wine like you were at The F&T. Besides, where else in Westbrook can you rub shoulders with the city's mayor, while also reminiscing about life in The Hamlet with fellow trailer-park alums? And all this while being supervised by a bouncer named Butch.

- John C.L. Morgan

A Few Toasts In Honor of Neal S. Dow

Here at Riverbank Republic headquarters, we don't usually require a reason to imbibe. However, we'll be drinking with purpose this Friday night when we (casually and haphazardly) organize the first annual Neal Dow Pub Crawl in Westbrook.

Though Neal S. Dow served as an officer in the U.S. Civil War and was the Mayor of Portland in 1851, he is most well-known today for his leadership of the temperance movement in Maine and the United States in the mid-nineteenth century.

A founding member of the Maine Temperance Society in 1827, Dow was instrumental in the passage of the Maine Law, which made Maine the first state in America to prohibit the manufacture, sale, and consumption of alcohol. Of course, the United States as a whole later followed suit when the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on January 16, 1919, thus making alcohol illegal throughout the country. Hence Dow's nickname as the "Father of the Prohibition."

Which leads us back to the first annual Neal Dow Pub Crawl.

On the one hand, it does seem paradoxical to honor Neal Dow with a few toasts of adult beverages during the anniversary week of the constitutional amendment that realized the severe prohibitionist's lifelong goal of national prohibition. On the other hand, it is merely a classy way to honor our dry foe for his noble efforts. After all, the Eighteenth Amendment was later superceded by the 1933 passage of the Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed prohibition (true fact: The Twenty-first Amendment is the only amendment in the U.S. Constitution ratified explicitly to repeal an earlier constitutional amendment). Besides, it is always easier for the victor to hail the vanquished when the defeated has no chance of ever winning again.

So hailing our vanquished we shall do.

Starting at 7p on Friday, January 18, Riverbankers will be at the Mill Side Tavern on Main Street. After about an hour at Mill Side, we'll go to Stockhouse Restaurant for a few more toasts. Then, after about an hour at Stockhouse, we'll cross the Presumpscot and spend an hour at the Skybox Pub on Brown Street. After Skybox, we'll cross the Presumpscot yet again and finish the evening with a nightcap at Profenno's Pub. Got all that? However, depending on circumstances, we may make a pit stop at The Frog and Turtle en route to Profenno's. As I said earlier, the planning for this has been casual and haphazard. Nevertheless, if you have nothing else going on, join us at these fine establishments for drink, friendship, merriment, and of course, to honor the memory of Mr. Neal S. Dow.

Finally, a note of disclosure: The official Pub Crawl will demand some walking and exposure to brisk air (it's not called the Pub Drive for a reason). We aren't anything here at Riverbank Republic if not responsible.

- John C.L. Morgan

Department of Self-Promotion

Stockhouse Restaurant won Riverbank Republic's inaugural poll for Westbrook's best bar.

Stockhouse garnered 47% (9 votes) of the vote, followed by Profenno's Pizzeria & Pub (31%, or 6 votes), Burrito (15%, 3 votes), Skybox Bar & Grill (5%, 1 vote), and Mill Side Tavern (0%, 0 votes). The poll was conducted between Tuesday, January 1 and Sunday, January 6. A total of nineteen votes were cast.

The poll for January 7-January 13 is for Westbrook's best cup of coffee. Vote now.

- John C.L. Morgan