Brothers Bar and Grill dropped a lawsuit Tuesday against the UW System Board of Regents contesting the board’s use of eminent domain to condemn the bar’s property, just one day before the parties were set to meet in court.
Eric and Marc Fortney, the establishment’s owners, along with their attorneys, filed a suit against the Board of Regents Oct. 20 of last year, claiming unfair procedure in the handling of eminent domain proceedings to make way for a new School of Music facility.
UW System spokesperson David Giroux said the case will be dismissed by the judge with prejudice, meaning the case will not be taken up again in the future.
“We are going back to the original offer, and in the very near future we hope an agreement can be reached,” Giroux said.
The Board of Regents previously offered the Fortneys $2.1 million for the property, which the owners accepted. Sometime after this, the bar’s owners said they required additional funds, estimated at $1.3 million, to facilitate the moving of their business. The Board of Regents felt this was an unreasonable demand and the offer was withdrawn.
A statement from the Fortneys’ attorney, Mike Wittenwyler, said the company that owns Brothers will not seek to continue in legal proceedings against the Board of Regents “for the benefit of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.”
“Instead, without further protest, the Fortneys will allow UW-Madison to proceed with building a new Music School at this location,” Wittenwyler said in the statement. “The Fortney’s will focus their energy on identifying a location and then building a new Brothers near campus.”
The statement goes on to say by no longer delaying the construction schedule of the $43 million performance facility, the bar’s owners hope the Board of Regents will follow suit in helping to provide adequate funds for the establishment’s relocation.
“Our goal now remains exactly the same as it has been — treating the owners fairly while protecting taxpayers,” Giroux said.
Neither of the bar’s owners could be reached for comment as of press time.
