May 7, 2025 noon
(WGTD)---The new operator of an Uptown Racine bar with a troubled past won licenses to open at Tuesday night’s Racine City Council meeting. But a lot of strings were attached.
After considerable debate, the council voted to limit the Adream Social Lounge’s operating hours to close at midnight, cap patronage at no more than 150 and limit the alcohol to malt beverages.
Many Uptown business owners and residents had lobbied heavily to keep the bar closed, citing a heavy concentration of bars in the area and past issues with the property in question that included parking problems.
At the meeting, Alder Nathan Pabon said the new operator, Aprill Wright, deserved a chance. "I think that's what they're owed," he said. "And should occurrences happen then that is the responsibility of the licensing committee to make those formal expressions of concern," he said.
The council vote went against a committee recommendation. The council’s Public Safety and Licensing Committee had voted to deny the license based on an omission in the application. Wright had failed to mention a conviction for carrying a concealed weapon. She maintained the omission was an honest mistake, but Committee Chair Sandy Weidner noted that the committee has been confronted with incomplete applications in the past and has consistently thrown them out.
At least some of the operating restrictions that were approved had either been agreed to or suggested by the applicant herself.
The property in question is located at 1518 Washington Ave. It's a three-story structure built years ago into a hill. The lower level reportedly has a capacity of over 400. Liquor license opponents noted that the attached parking lot only has 50 stalls.
The building owner said he would use revenue generated by Wright's lease to help finance the renovation of a half-dozen upper story apartments and find a use for the vacant storefront.
-0-