The end of Rex's Bar?
Rex's Bar is a place fairly difficult to miss. It sits on West Gay Street, in a residential neighborhood. Its facade is decorated with some stickers of bands that have played there over the years. It's also a bar that hosts a variety of live music, including punk rock, metal, reggae and other styles. Well, it may not be open for too much longer.
My curiosity about the fate of Rex's grew last week when Borough Council had to chose a date for a hearing regarding the transfer of a liqour license to the building that is currently Rex's. Apparently, a Thai food restaurant may go there.
Wondering if Rex's is going to close, I called the attorney for Donnie Moore, the owner of Rex's. The attorney, Bill Shehwen, told me yesterday that Moore would like to close Rex's and transfer the liquor license of Rex's to a music venue/theater he hopes to open on East Market Street.
Moore tried to get a liquor license for this venue a few months ago, but he was denied by council. He still seems determined to open something else, though. I'm interested to see how all this plays out, especially when the hearing for this Thai restaurant comes. Most likely, some neighbors will be happy to see Rex's move out of their neighborhood, but at the same time, some neighbors living near that East Market Street location probably won't be too thrilled with Moore's idea for the theater/music venue. They already raised a lot of concerns at the hearing a few months ago.
It's also important to remember that these ideas are also very preliminary and could change at anytime.
My curiosity about the fate of Rex's grew last week when Borough Council had to chose a date for a hearing regarding the transfer of a liqour license to the building that is currently Rex's. Apparently, a Thai food restaurant may go there.
Wondering if Rex's is going to close, I called the attorney for Donnie Moore, the owner of Rex's. The attorney, Bill Shehwen, told me yesterday that Moore would like to close Rex's and transfer the liquor license of Rex's to a music venue/theater he hopes to open on East Market Street.
Moore tried to get a liquor license for this venue a few months ago, but he was denied by council. He still seems determined to open something else, though. I'm interested to see how all this plays out, especially when the hearing for this Thai restaurant comes. Most likely, some neighbors will be happy to see Rex's move out of their neighborhood, but at the same time, some neighbors living near that East Market Street location probably won't be too thrilled with Moore's idea for the theater/music venue. They already raised a lot of concerns at the hearing a few months ago.
It's also important to remember that these ideas are also very preliminary and could change at anytime.
4 Comments:
Ahhh, Rex's. Haven't been there since it was Joe's, which preceded the current bar for many years. Do they still have the trough in the mens room? Great place for music, where you could see local acts as well as bands like George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers before they made it big. Shouldn't Boro Council be concerned about losing such a piece of WC history? Seems more important that the tiles in front of Cosi.
Well, if Donnie Moore gets what he wants, there will be a larger music venue on East Market Street. Of course, all of this is preliminary and council and some residents already expressed concerns about having some type of music venue downtown.
I did a little checking and learned that before the place that is now Rex's was known as "Joe's Sprtsmen's Lounge, it was called the "Venice Cafe" in 1942. The owner was Joe Arabia who kept it as JSL for many years. Neighbors tell me that during the war, GIs went there when they were home on leave and the place got rowdy at times -- and that was before rock-n-roll!
Jim,
Thanks for that information. Our business editor was talking about doing a piece about Rex's, if it definitely closes, which certainly seems likely at this point. We would like to include some of the history you mentioned, so maybe you can help us out when the time comes.
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