Stalag 2000 opening delayed

The city is reviewing applications for three possible locations for the club, expected to open in January. The opening of an alcohol-free music venue near the edge of campus has been pushed back several weeks because of processing delays at the Philadelphia Department of Licensing and Inspection, according to prospective club co-owner Sean Agnew. The new club, originally named Stalag 2000, was initially set to make its debut on January 1, but will now open by mid-January at the earliest because of the unexpected delays, Agnew said. The University is currently working with the club's prospective owners to open the new club in a temporary home at one of three University-owned sites: near the intersections of 40th and Locust streets, 43rd and Chestnut streets and 42nd and Walnut streets. Tom Lussenhop, the University's top real estate official and Penn's pointperson on the project, was out of town yesterday and could not be reached for comment. According to Agnew, the University has applied to the city for permission to open the club at each of the proposed sites. The city is now in the process of reviewing bylaws dictating the type of establishments that can legally operate in each of the suggested neighborhoods. "They're trying to figure out the zoning issues," Agnew said. "We won't know a definite location until about a week from now." Under the terms of the University's agreement with the club's prospective owners, the indie rock club is set to move to a more suitable, permanent site at the end of this coming summer. "Penn's going to try to provide us with a permanent, more club-esque space that will be more situated to our needs," Agnew said. If the club opens, it will fulfill the Working Group on Alcohol Abuse's recommendation to open up a late-night, alcohol-free music club on or near campus. The University has been in talks with Agnew and his partners since last summer to open up a club near the western end of campus. Agnew had previously operated a club called Stalag 13 at 39th Street and Lancaster Avenue, but it was closed over the summer by city officials for lacking the necessary permits. Agnew said his group is trying to find a new name for the club. He has asked former patrons to submit suggestions and has already received about 50 responses, he said.