GIVING TUESDAY MAJOR SIDEBAR TIMELINE UPDATE PLUS PHOTOS!

Otherwise known as everything you’ve ever wanted to know (and some things you didn’t) about where your Sidebar donations have gone, what they have funded, and what still needs to be done. This update is VEEEEEEERY long. If you don’t care about all of the details, you are welcome to scroll along to the TL:DR Dec 2022 section. That will bring you to our current needs, but let me take you back to where it all began… *cue winter snow transition*

Dec 2021 - We started this whole journey with a letter of intent to purchase at the end of December and then immediately set up the Santa Save the Sidebar gofundme. We contacted the landlord, our lawyer, and a liquor board attorney to expedite the process. We had hopes of getting the liquor license transferred by March. 

Jan 2022 - We started getting quotes from contractors and began the lease negotiations. We were hoping this would go quickly, but the lease was very heavily not in our favor and was not ok for us to sign. It eventually took 8 months of back and forths from the landlord and meetings with our lawyer to get a final, signable version of the lease. 

We tried to find out who owned the old sidebar website, but it’s still unknown. We ended up taking over and reviving the current website this month and the bar’s social media. We actually tried to buy thesidebar.com but it was $12,000 and we laughed all the way to the nope response.

Feb 2022 - We had raised $25,000 by the one month mark and are still thankful for everyone who’s supported this endeavor. This month, we had a commercial building inspection and that’s where we found the gas leak coming through the extremely corroded pipes which led us to immediately shutting off the gas line. Between the property manager, the landlord, and ourselves, it was later decided that the gas line was too corroded to save, so it will be removed. This means the landlord had to get a new electric water heater and we and the landlord have to get Sidebar a new electric HVAC system. 

We also included an air quality test, since there was so much visible mold in the sub-basement of the bar. When we got it back, it confirmed the bar was riddled with black mold, so much that we couldn’t be inside the space without n95 masks on and were going to need to have someone in a hypoallergenic suit and respirator remediate it before the bar could be safe to put staff or patrons inside. The perpetrator of this mold is two-fold and the major issue that’s been holding everything up. The bar is technically 2000 sq ft, but around 1000 sqft of that is in a sub-basement below the bar. Approximately 400 sqft of that 1000, is outside of the building foundation footprint, directly under the sidewalk. There is currently no waterproofing between the sidewalk itself and the ceiling of the sub-basement. When it rains, the rain soaks directly down into the sub-basement, through the ceiling. 

The second area growing mold is the back wall. Between the rear wall of the building and the city owned parking lot, there is a 3ft variance that’s designed to direct water down it toward the street. The current issues with it are: 1) it’s graded incorrectly, directing water against the building’s exterior wall and 2) all of the parking lot’s concrete parking space wheel stops have been moved into the variance over time and their placement also directs water at the foundation instead of away from it. I have spent the last 6 months working with our City Counsel person Eric Costello, DOT and DPW to figure out whose responsibility it is to maintain these spaces and how to get them fixed.

Also, shoutout to Tecla Tesnau, Eric Mach, and Drew Skibitsky for giving us advice and connections for help on commercial bar insurance policies. We had started looking into them at this point, but there were so many unanswerable questions and you can’t get a policy without a lease, so it was put on hold.

Mar 2022 - We called in a structural engineer, to confirm that the walls and ceiling were currently safe and not falling in. For once, the mold was actually helpful. Because it covered everything evenly, we were able to confirm that all the visible cracks in the basement walls were from the building settling a long time ago. Any current movement would have been stark white and very noticeable. 

Another fun issue the bar has, the current electrical service coming into the bar is so old it's insulated with cloth and one of the services is only 60 amp as opposed to 100 amp. We had an electrician come through and give us quotes on updating everything to code and we brought in a plumber to look at the weird hole in the floor, the building’s shit pipe, and the plumbing for the bathrooms and gas line.

Once we had all of this information, we approached the landlord and laid out everything. The total renovations were projected to be approximately $40,000. The landlord reiterated that they were renting the space “as is” and we could fix whatever we wanted but they were not offering anything in terms of compensation or rent reduction unless it came with a raise in rent AND we had to front all the money AND run all the projects and only get reimbursed for 50% of it, 50% of that which we would have paid them back in raised rent.  

Apr/May 2022 - We basically stopped our fundraising here because I wasn’t sure if we would be able to make this work and I didn’t want to take any more money til we had a path forward. I looked around at other buildings and we couldn’t find anything that worked better than where we currently were.

Jun/July 2022 - We started up lease negotiations again and were finally able to come to an agreement. We had the lease in place to start August 1st so we could file for the liquor license transfer by August 9th.

Aug 2022 - WE SIGNED A LEASE AND OFFICIALLY TOOK OVER THE BAR! YAY! Liquor license transfer form was submitted on time and we were now waiting for our hearing. We were also waiting for any of our insurance brokers to get back to us about our policy options, as we couldn’t have any contractors in until we were insured. We built a contingency into our lease in case we were unable to. While waiting for those things to happen, we started cleaning out the bar. We had two major clean up days so far with a lot of local help. All together, we removed 3 entire sprinter vans and two dumpsters full of garbage from the bar. It still needs a deep cleaning, but the majority of the stuff that isn’t staying is gone.

Sept 2022 - During the month of September, I spent most of the time communicating with DOT and DPW and scheduling meetings and walkthroughs with different levels of officials, trying to figure out who was the correct department to address the sidewalk water intrusion. I know a bunch of you who ran into me at shows got to hear that part of the story already…

Oct 2022 - We had our liquor board hearing early in the month and our transfer was granted! Now, this doesn’t mean we have taken over the license yet. We still have to get all the work done, inspections done, and pass those inspections before we will be in possession of the updated liquor license. 

Also this month, we FINALLY found the correct city department and DOT Cityscapes confirmed they will dig up and re-lay the concrete for us at a very reasonable price. The issue is, they don’t do the waterproofing part. So we are currently looking for vendors who can do that part and work in conjunction with the city, some time next year. They also confirmed that when they dig up the sidewalk, they will also dig up and regrade the variance behind the building. Once we had that knowledge and confirmation that remediation with regular maintenance will allow the bar to be safely occupied, we moved forward again. 

Nov 2022 - I spent most of this month trying to find insurance and waterproofing vendors. As a first time bar owner in a post-covid climate, pretty much 0 companies were willing to give us quotes. We finally found ONE company that would take us, but our premiums are gonna be very high for the first year until we can shop around again next year. I’m still looking for waterproofing vendors.

The biggest YAY so far, since our insurance policy has started we have FINALLY been able to start the mold remediation! As of the end of next week, the bar will be mold free! Electrical work will start the week after that. While we will be unable to use a portion of the basement until we can get the sidewalk water-tight, we will be able to get all the rest of the contractors in to start fixing everything else that must be done before we can pass inspections, get our liquor license fully transferred, and open the bar for good.

Dec 2022 - That brings us to right now. Now that we have a clear path forward, we need to finish the fundraising to make the bar function. We need to finish raising the rest of the $65k (projected) left on the gofundme. This money will cover the black mold and lead paint remediation, fixing all the electrical issues, fixing the plumbing, covering our half of the HVAC system, a new awning, addressing the broken beer cooler, new speaker wire and snake for the stage, a new door (the current door lets rain inside and is destroying the floor), and other incidentals like patching drywall and some paint. We intend to leave the bar decorated as is, just cleaned up a bit. 

I paid the bar’s $10,000 deposit out of my own money, donated another $3,000 to the gofundme, as well as my time for the last year. I believe in the Sidebar and I believe in our music scenes. The effort was well worth it to preserve this venue and make it as safe as it can be for bands and patrons alike. 

I hope you can find it in your hearts to help get this project over the finish line. We are SO CLOSE! Again, I super appreciate everyone who has given their time and resources to this project so far. We can’t do it without you. 

-Rachel