WEST TOWN — After a link to their survey was deleted from a prominent community Facebook group, a group of West Town residents and business owners teamed up to start a new organization, hoping their digital savvy could help bring a cocktail lounge to the former Club Foot space.
Club Foot shuttered in November and there is a proposal for it to become The Golden Arms, a craft cocktail lounge from the Mike Marszewski, owner of Maria's Community Bar in Bridgeport.
Read the The Golden Arms' proposal.
While one neighborhood group spoke out against lifting a liquor ban that would allow Golden Arms to operate, those in favor of lifting the ban say their opinions were quickly removed from a Facebook page that's become a hub for development chatter in the neighborhood.
According to its mission statement, The West Town Community Alliance wants to be "a supplement to the existing neighborhood associations" and use digital outreach "enable a wider range of neighbors" to weigh in on West Town issues and developments.
To get a broader sense of how people in the community feel, the new alliance has put together an online poll to get input on the future of the former Club Foot bar at 1824 W. Augusta Blvd.
Alisa Hauser discusses the future of the former Club Foot spot:
The six-question survey, which launched earlier this month and ends next Monday, has received 610 responses so far, according to Julie Ghatan, one of the West Town Alliance's four executive board members.
The poll asks if residents are in favor of lifting the Tavern License Liquor Moratorium, from Wood to Damen on both sides of Augusta, to allow Marszewski to buy the existing Tavern Liquor License from Lauree Rohrig through a Change of Officers transaction at the former Club Foot spot at the northeast corner of Augusta Boulevard and Honore Street.
Lauree Rohrig, who ran Club Foot with her husband, Chuck Uchida, previously said she would like to sell the business and liquor license to Marszewski.
"There is a lot of red tape; I'm not holding my breath. The current buyer was an old customer. I would rather see him succeed there than another sports bar or bro-hole," Rohrig said earlier this month.
The group also asks for respondent's address, as well as distinction on whether the survey taker is a local renter, property owner business owner or both.
Raymond Valadez, a spokesman for Ald. Joe Moreno (1st) said Monday that Moreno is aware of the grassroots West Town Alliance and plans to look at results once its poll closes.
"We are going to take it into consideration. We have also solicited comments on Moreno's Facebook page. The [online polls] are another good source of information to use, especially with geography and mapping involved," Valadez said.
Where respondents live in relation to the proposed bar will be a key factor in evaluating feedback, Valadez said.
The East Village Association, long a prominent voice on neighborhood development and preservation, formerly sent a letter against the bar plan because of a zoning change from residential to commercial use that would be required along with a liquor moratorium lift, Valadez said.
Ghatan, owner of Dovetail at 1452 W. Chicago Ave., said that The West Town Chamber of Commerce is supporting the volunteers who created the alliance with "some infrastructure and light administration."
Kara Salgado, executive director of The West Town Chamber of Commerce, wrote a letter in support of The Golden Arms to Moreno earlier this month.
"The team behind The Golden Arms has a great reputation and long respected history in the local hospitality field, and the Board of Directors believes this business will be an asset to the community and will contribute to the overall positive economic development in West Town," Salgado wrote.
Ghatan said all of the alliance's feedback would be posted online once the poll closes next Monday.
For info on the East Village Association, visit the group's website or Facebook page. For info on the West Town Alliance, visit its website or Facebook page.
