Indie club still on the way

The University's effort to bring an alcohol-free indie rock music venue to the edge of campus has come one step closer to succeeding, despite paperwork back-ups. Tom Lussenhop, the University's top real estate official, said yesterday that officials appear to be closing in on a temporary location for the club originally named Stalag 2000. "4040 Locust is looking increasingly like a feasible site," he said, adding that "if the club is successful in its operations at 40th and Locust [streets], I would expect a more permanent location by the fall of 2000." Under the latest terms of the agreement, the club was slated to open temporarily at one of three sites: one near 40th and Locust streets, another at the intersection of 42nd and Walnut streets or a third near 43rd and Chestnut streets, club co-owner Sean Agnew said. At the end of August, the agreement says, the club will be moved to a permanent location that is more suitable for a music venue. "My sense is that it will be widely supported and widely popular and that on the strength of that support we'll find a long-term location in University City for the club," Lussenhop said. Despite this news, not much progress has been made to bring the club to campus since its owners submitted the proper forms to the department of Licensing and Inspection, Agnew said. "I haven't heard back from [Lussenhop], probably won't until [this] morning," Agnew said. The University expects L&I; approval to come through by early next month -- shifting the club's projected opening date to the end of the January, Lussenhop said. Agnew and his partners, Andrew Martini and Tony Croasdale, had originally planned to open Stalag at the end of October in a privately-owned building leased by the University near the intersection of 40th and Market streets for a three-month trial period, at the end of which the University would permanently turn over its lease on the building to the club's owners. At the last minute, however, the plans fell through because certain high-ranking University administrators aired concerns over the the new club's location. At the time, Agnew had said the reason for the sudden breakdown in negotiations was the fact that some administrators felt the club would bring a criminal element to the University City area. Students reacted with petitions, signs and letters after Penn decided to stop the deal from going through. Administrators reopened the lines of communication soon after. University President Judith Rodin and Provost Robert Barchi both denied ever having cut off talks with Agnew. The lengthy negotiations may have been a result of the troubled past of Agnew's former venue, Stalag 13, which was formerly located near the intersection of 39th and Lancaster streets. This summer, the club was closed after officials at Licensing and Inspections discovered it was operating without any of the necessary permits. Because of the conditions under which Stalag 13 closed, Agnew decided to abandon the name Stalag 2000 for his new club. To find a new name, Agnew asked many of Stalag 13's former patrons to submit ideas via e-mail. Agnew and his partners now have a list of about 50 possible names for the new club and have not yet chosen one.