[media-credit name=’BRYAN FAUST/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]With the demolition of University Square this summer, each establishment in the campus-located plaza must find a new place to call home.
But while some of the tenants have already found new locations, popular campus bar Madhatter’s has not.
"As of today, we do not have a place where we're moving," Madhatter’s general manager Rebecca Fichtner said. "Finding real estate is always going to be difficult."
However, Fichtner did reveal some new information — the bar's last day at University Square will be Sunday, May 28.
Fichtner could not comment on the specific places the bar has looked at, but did note the bar is hoping to stay near campus.
But Susan Crowley, director of the Policy Alternatives Community Education project, believes it would be more beneficial if Madhatter’s moved to a less bar-congested area.
As director of PACE — a university organization designed to deter underage drinking and overconsumption of alcohol — Crowley feels the area Madhatter’s is currently in has enough bars, with Brothers across the street and Madison Avenue just a block away.
"I would like to see them move to some other location," she said. "It would be really good to break up that density."
Because a representative from the University of Wisconsin has a nonvoting seat on the city's Alcohol License Review Committee, Crowley said the university would have some input on the future of the bar's location.
ALRC approves the licenses to serve alcohol and will have to approve another license for the bar's new location.
According to Fichtner, the earliest the bar could reopen is this fall, but because finding a place is the primary concern, setting a date is highly tentative.
Wherever the new location may be, Fichtner believed students would still flock to Madhatter’s when it reopens, as the bar is popular for its drink specials.
"[P]art of the reason we want to stay on campus is that we deal with a large regular crowd, and the owner wants to stick with them," Fichtner added. "Out of most bars on campus, we have a really good staff of people that get along with the people that come in."
And while those drink specials are a large concern for Crowley, she agreed a number of students would still follow the bar.
"My observation is that there is some loyalty to certain bars, and that loyalty tends to be driven by the prices and the accessibility to the location," Crowley said. "Their clientele might change some, but I suspect they'll get the business they are looking for."