Gossip from September and October 2007
By Chris Busby
October 29, 2007
New Year’s Portland nixed again
For the second year in a row, there will be no official New Year’s Portland celebration. Portland Pirates CEO Brian Petrovec, who has been leading the effort to revive the event, said corporate funding “has not materialized.”
Once a major attraction, featuring fireworks and a variety of cultural and musical performances downtown from early New Year’s Eve to early New Year’s Day, the festival has faltered in recent years. From the mid-1980s until 2001, New Year’s Portland was organized by Maine Arts, a small, nonprofit group that booked local performers and charged a nominal ticket price to attend most shows.
In 2002, a new non-profit organization, New Year’s Portland Inc., took over. A public-private partnership between city officials and business owners like Petrovec, its president, NYP Inc. tried to make the fest more “family friendly” by focusing on free, kid-centric activities that wrapped up by 9 p.m. It also tried, disastrously, to broaden the event’s appeal by featuring a big-name national act. [For more on New Year’s Portland’s recent history, see “What Aren’t You Doing New Year’s Eve” and “What Aren’t You Doing New Year’s Eve Part II,” two columns by former Bollard contributor, and NYP promoter, Richard Lawlor.]
Dwindling public interest and a lack of private support led to the decision not to hold the celebration last year. In previous years, the event’s budget has ranged from about $60,000 to $150,000.
Petrovec said he hopes there’ll be a New Year’s Portland next year. The Pirates have since assumed responsibility for the event, having taken it over from the short-lived NYP Inc. partnership. Petrovec said he’s now working on a new partnership with “an event company” that will “perhaps take a different approach to sourcing corporate interest.” That new partnership may be announced before Thanksgiving, he said.
October 15, 2007
Gauchos rides into town
Gauchos Churrascaria, a fixed-price steakhouse, is readying to serve slabs o’ meat in the Commercial Street space formerly occupied by Portland’s Restaurant and Oolong. The eatery has one other location, in Manchester, N.H.
According to Gauchos’ Web site (www.gauchosbraziliansteakhouse.com), for about $25, diners get salad, sides, dessert, and their choice of a variety of slow-roasted meats (steak, ribs, sausage, chicken hearts, etc.). Wait staff provide continuous service, regularly returning with skewers of hot meat. Gauchos is scheduled to open Nov. 1.
October 5, 2007
The Icehouse, battered by city, still stands
The Icehouse, a neighborhood bar in the West End, is still open for business, despite the Portland City Council’s concerted efforts to take away its liquor license.
Several weeks ago, councilors voted unanimously to deny the current owners’ request to renew their license, citing complaints by neighbors about rowdy characters in the neighborhood presumed to be Icehouse patrons. The Orne family, which has owned and operated the establishment for well over a decade, is appealing that decision to state liquor officials, who have ultimate authority over such licenses. No hearing date has yet been set for that appeal, said the Ornes’ attorney, David Turesky.
Meanwhile, Mary Cardona, a West Ender who’s tended bar at The Icehouse for the past year, is attempting to take over the business by leasing the property from the Ornes. A former employee of the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office, Cardona said she intends to rename the Icehouse the West End Tavern and focus on selling more food than booze. She pledged to continue to improve operations at the establishment, which has had far fewer problems than in years past.
Despite Cardona’s relatively clean record, the Council unanimously rejected her application on Oct. 1. Councilors said they were unconvinced Cardona’s ownership and operation of the business would constitute a genuine change from the Ornes’ business practices.
Cardona conceded that she did not have a formal business plan for the West End Tavern. She also said she was pursuing a lounge license, rather than a restaurant license, at the urging of her would-be landlords, the Ornes, who told her the establishment could lose certain legal protections if it were operated under a different type of license.
Cardona is also considering an appeal to state liquor licensing officials.
September 20, 2007
The Soundpost signs off
After nine months of eclectic Sunday night shows, The Soundpost is closing following one last performance this coming weekend. Artists/promoters Kate Cox and Matt Rock revived the informal venue on High Street in downtown Portland formerly known as The Stillhouse [see the Jan. 8 Gossip item here]. Rock said the building is being sold and he and Cox have been offered a house-sitting gig in Berlin this fall. June Fitzpatrick Gallery, located below the performance space, is not part of the building for sale, Fitzpatrick said.
The “Farewell Tribute” show on Sept. 23 features performances by The Red F (Tim Burns of Phantom Buffalo, with Kelly Nesbitt), Gray Cox, Rock (playing accordion, with Dylan Blanchard of Grupo Esperanza), violinist Ben Russell and an outfit called Orifist (described as “a pleasant surprise that feels better than it sounds”).
Rock said a box set of past Soundpost shows is being readied for release later this fall.
September 6, 2007
Is Duson losing it?
Granted, every Portland City Councilor drifts off from time to time, loses concentration, takes a day trip to La-La Land. But Councilor Jill Duson’s loss of focus was downright eerie during last night’s meeting.
After voting to approve a routine item at the start of the meeting, Duson remarked, “Can we get some menu highlights?” Her colleagues looked at her in dismay.
Though there were several liquor and entertainment licenses next on the agenda, the item she’d just approved was the transfer of over $10,000 in drug-forfeiture assets from the state to the city (such funds are used for the police department’s anti-drug initiatives). It was clear Duson had no idea what she’d just voted on.
Perhaps it’s for the best that Duson has decided not to run for Congress next year. We’d hate to see her ask for “menu highlights” on C-SPAN after mindlessly approving, say, a war appropriations bill.
