Local bar to close after losing liquor license

The Blockley, a bar and music venue at 38th and Chestnut streets, will be missing from campus when students return for classes next year.

After losing its liquor license, The Blockley announced that it will be closing its doors at the end of 2013. It will host four last shows between Thursday and Sunday of this week before it closes.

In a Facebook post on The Blockley’s page from Dec. 12, the music venue said that it lost its liquor license “without much notice.” The post went on to say that the managers have been negotiating the loss, but that “at this point we’re forced to move the license out of the building at year’s end.”

According to the post, the news came as a shock to the venue’s staff, and it “derails an experience and a community that we have been so very excited to see grow and flourish.”

The Blockley, which opened a little more than four years ago, has seen its share of talented performers, and run-ins with the law, over its history as a venue.

In early December, American Jewish reggae artist Matisyahu performed at the venue as part of Penn Hillel’s “One Day” Hanukkah celebration for the last night of the eight-day holiday.

A little over two years ago, 40 underage students were cited for underage drinking at The Blockley when it, as well as two other on-campus bars, was raided by officers from the Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement. Four bartenders were arrested for allegedly serving the underage drinkers at the time.

The Blockley also hosted a happy hour for Haitian relief in 2010, shortly after the caribbean island was struck by a devastating earthquake. The happy hour was sponsored by the School of Medicine, the Junto Society, the Interfraternity Council and Penn’s sprint football team.

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