The Royal on Baker closed by bitter dispute
By Nelson Daily Staff
By Suzy Hamilton, The Nelson Daily
The owner of the Royal on Baker arrived in Nelson Thursday to inventory what is left at the bar, after a dispute with the bar’s tenants left the pub doors locked and acts cancelled.
“This is hurting my efforts to find a replacement tenant,” said Luke Menkes, who bought the building in 2009 and ran the bar until 2011 when he leased it to Howie Ross and Paul Hinrichs.
But now, according to Menkes, Ross and Hinrichs have refused to transfer the liquor licence back to him so that he can continue to book acts at the Royal. He said that it was agreed that if the pair did not renew the lease by the end of April, 2013, the licence would be turned back to him.
Menkes transferred the liquor licence to the pair for tax purposes, he said, and to comply with the BC Liquor Commission stipulation that the licensee live in Nelson.
The realtor lives in Kelowna.
After gaining a successful following as a musical venue, Ross and Hinrichs announced in December that it was too expensive to continue to run the bar at the Royal. They issued a plea for help from the community. The funds, however, did not materialize and the pair announced that the Royal would close May 1.
“These guys were saying that everything was going to be dismantled, and it is just not true,“ said Menkes.
“They might be retiring, but the Royal is still the Royal. It is still a good venue. Just because they decided not to continue doesn’t mean the Royal won’t continue.
Menkes said he told them if they didn’t transfer the licence he would begin eviction proceedings. “But before I could do that, they stripped the place,” he said.
The equipment appears to be intact, he said, but that all the liquor and the liquor licence have been removed.
The problem is that it can take 10 to 12 months to obtain a new liquor licence. But with a transfer, the business can continue to operate while the paperwork is going through.
Menkes is looking for new tenants and in the meantime will rent the facility as a liquor free venue (luke@liveattheroyal.com). He said he would apply for a new liquor licence immediately.
Menkes is also upset that he no longer has access to the Royal’s Facebook page, and that Ross and Hinrich are using it to announce the change of venues for the acts that have been cancelled or moved. “The Facebook page and the website belong to the landlord,” said Menkes.
Despite repeated attempts to contact Ross, neither Ross nor Hinrichs have responded and have made no comment to The Nelson Daily.
Landlord/tenant disputes are nothing new for the Royal, said 11-year Royal employee Rob Faulkner. “Nelson is a small town, you might have to make the venue smaller to make it.”
