Cannons may have served as my rec room for nearly 20 years but it's gone now and it's not coming back. Add it to last year's count of city homicides.
Neighbors in the historic district don't want the downstairs turned into an apartment and new owner Cityline recently withdrew those plans at least temporarily. Ideally, I'm assuming, opponents of that plan would like to see the building deconverted into a single family home.
Is that economically feasible? I don't know, but I doubt it. The cost of the refit is likely to be more than the building is worth. Lehigh County has appraised it at $62,000. Cityline, for the record, is listing it for sale at $125,000, minus the liquor license.
The more likely option may be as a corner store -- or bodega as the real estate listing notes -- retaining the apartment that already exists on the second floor.
I'm pretty sure the neighborhood doesn't want another bar there. I mean these are the same folks who complained about the noise -- right? -- ending the days when you could see the Buzz Band or Zen for Primates on a Thursday night.
A bar's not likely to happen. Cityline wants $200,000 for the license. Add that to the price of the building and you've got a lot of glasses of beer to sell in a neighborhood that appears to be on the brink.
Ultimately I guess I don't care what they do with the carcass; its soul flitted away when it shut down for good in June.
http://www.lehighcounty.org/Assessment/Puba.cfm?doc=ViewProperty.cfm&pin=549782947414&parnum=1
http://lvarmls.rapmls.com/scripts/mgrqispi.dll?APPNAME=Lehigh&PRGNAME=MLSPropertyDetail&ARGUMENTS=-N833661702,-N174328,-N,-A,-N17515266
3 comments:
The whole Cannon's closing is depressing. I get the feeling this was in the works before the violence occurred there. The bar sold something like a month after the bartender was assaulted and before the shootings at the bodega. Not that I blame them for wanting to get out. It must be tough to run a nice bar in center city.
I'm always tempted to venture into the Hoffbrau Haus, but the crowd doesn't appear to be old and Penn Dutch anymore. If I ever go, it won't be alone!
I have many memories of Cannon's over the years, and my hubby has even more since he's a little older than me. I like your picture of the ceiling!
Do you have a picture of the mural?
I think to deconvert this to a single family would be too costly. There has always been an apt. upstairs, so I think it would make sense to have some kind of store downstairs to serve the neighborhood. I hope this neighborhood comes back, but I think it might take a while. Public safety needs to be a priority.
Sarina -- Someone told me the owner was hoping to sell the place to someone who would run it, but the assaults were the final straw. Never been to the Hofbrau. I don't think it's a trouble spot, though.
Hi Dottie -- I'll post a picture of that mural. Until a couple of years ago that neighborhood was OK. We used to walk home late at night and we didn't worry about it. We'd also walk to Dina's or the Repo club after Cannons. Wouldn't do it now.
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