WAUPACA COUNTY POST

May 15, 2003

 

New pub to open by end of the year

By Angie Landsverk, Post Staff Writer

 

            The owners of the former Oakwood restaurant are becoming partners in a new pub in downtown Waupaca and want to transfer their liquor license there.

            Plans call for Tee Dub’s Pub to open in December in the basement of the building that Terry Martin owns at 115 E. Fulton St.

            Remodeling is expected to begin the end of June.

            Martin said the Irish pub will have an “old school feel” with stone walls, and exposed timber beams.

            It will also be smoke-free.

            “It’s my own personal preference,” he said of the decision to have a smoke-free pub.  “All those involved are nonsmokers.  We wanted to create an environment we felt comfortable going to – a social place where you can have a drink and some food.  We’re the first and only ones to do that.”

            He said others may make the decision to do the same thing sometime.

            The building will be handicapped accessible with the entrance to the pub being off of Riverview Park.

            There will be a patio area, with outside seating of about 24 in the summer.

            Seating inside is expected to be less than 75, and Martin said they are still working on their food menu.

            “We’ll start simple and expand from there,” he said.

            When asked who approached whom about the partnership, Martin said that it was mutual.

            Transferring the liquor license that Carol Zook and Brian Zook had held at 1040 W. Fulton St. to the pub’s location was before the city’s Judiciary Committee when it met Monday evening.

            City Attorney John Hart explained to the committee that the Oakwood voluntarily closed early last year, with the requirement that a grease trap needed to be fixed before it could reopen.

            The Zooks applied for the liquor license again last year, and the Oakwood was torn down after their property was sold.

            State statutes allow for a premise-to-premise transfer of a liquor license, and Hart said Monday that those who transfer the license must be partners in the new business.

            When the Zooks were asked during the Judiciary Committee meeting if they are partners in the new venture, Brian Zook said, “Yes.”

            Ald. Paul Hagen said that “considering the fact that it is a somewhat touchy subject,” he believes all the necessary paperwork should be filed so that it is apparent it is an owner-to-owner transfer and not something else.

            Tee Dub’s Pub was one of four businesses in the city on a waiting list to receive a liquor license.

            The other three businesses are Waupaca Woods Restaurant, Uptown Pizza and Cronies.  Those three businesses have licenses to serve beer and wine.

            There is no limit in the city as to the number of businesses that may have licenses to serve beer and wine.

            However, the city is limited to the number of liquor licenses it issues.  That number is based on population.  Waupaca’s quota is 12, but the city actually has 15 liquor licenses because three of the licenses are for businesses that were annexed into the city at one time and grandfathered in.

            In regard to the transfer of the liquor license, Hart said everyone knows the Oakwood was a supper club and that it will not be the same business at the new location.

            “I think it will be important for the council to know what the transfer is and why it is being made,” Hart said.

            The Judiciary Committee recommended that the transfer be approved.

            Ald. Paul Mayou, who is a member of the committee, abstained because he is also a partner in the new pub.

            The recommendation will go before the Common Council when it meets next Tuesday night.

            Martin said he has had the idea to open a pub in the basement of the building since he purchased it 11 years ago, and now, it is on the verge of happening.

            “A big part of why we want to do this is the whole idea of the park expanding,” he said.  “It’s a real key to the success of this.”

            Martin said it may also be a stimulus to others who own businesses in that area, saying some have already made improvements and others may do more.

            “It allows for economic development,” he said.  “Without the park developing, it wouldn’t be as conducive to do it.”