A popular upscale restaurant will close this month after operating three years in downtown Roseburg, and its place will be taken by a longtime eatery that has bounced from pillar to post in and around the city. There’s no simple, all-encompassing explanation as to why the Blackbird Bar and Grill will be leaving 647 S.E. Jackson St. on May 20, to be succeeded in the spot by Sandy’s Place Restaurant. But it is clear that its departure has sparked a rumpus, as evidenced on The News-Review’s Facebook page and a reader proposing a guest column about the move. It’s easy to see why there could be frustration. Accounts related by representatives of Blackbird, Sandy’s and the building’s owner, the Roseburg Masons, don’t all line up as to chronology and motive. Blackbird co-owner Joe Allen told reporter Carisa Cegavske last week that Sandy’s could have chosen a different downtown building for relocation, while his wife and business partner, Cheryl Allen, said she believed the Masons are evicting Blackbird as a means of retaliation against a small claims suit. Masons representative Clay Jordan said the Allens stopped making lease payments on an antique store beside the restaurant — the subject of the small claims suit alleging water damage from an upstairs bathroom — and wouldn’t sign a long-term lease for the restaurant. Meanwhile, Sandy’s co-owner Dave Mack said the landlords approached them with the news the current tenants were leaving. If Dave and Sandy Mack hadn’t accepted the lease opportunity, Blackbird would still be out of the building, he said. The confusion has led patrons of each restaurant to wage something of a food fight, slinging epithets against each other. Others have accused the property owners of being opportunistic at best. None of it is doing anything to benefit business downtown.
Posted on: Wed, 14 May 2014 01:26:51 +0000