Dog's Paw, Alano Club clash over space in downtown Elgin
The Alano Club's move to a new location in downtown Elgin is causing friction with a neighboring restaurant owner in what appears to be a case of miscommunication.
The club is moving into a space in the basement of 73 S. Riverside Drive, behind Dog's Paw Brewing at 74 S. Grove Ave. Restaurant owner Iran Garcia said he uses two backrooms in the basement, a storage room containing soda connected via hoses to the bar upstairs, the other with his grease traps and water main valve.
Garcia said that he expected to continue having access to those rooms via a hallway after the Alano Club moved in. However, club volunteers knocked down the hallway wall earlier this week and changed the locks on the front door. "They muscled me out of my share of my basement," he said.
Club board member Laurie-Faith Gibson said that's not true. A September lease agreement between Alano Club and Dog's Paw - signed by Gibson and property manager Gordon Gromer - shows basement floor plans without the hallway in question.
Also, Gromer is supposed to give keys to Garcia, who will continue to have access, she said.
"We've tried to reach out to (Garcia). We tried to talk to him. But he's always been unavailable and it's been impossible," she said. "And then he blew up at our volunteers."
Gromer said it all appears to be a misunderstanding. "It's in the process of being worked out. That's as far as I know."
Garcia said he never saw the agreement nor agreed to the hallway being knocked down. "You have a business and you have to go through a second business to operate? No one would do that."
Rebuilding the hallway is an option, Gibson said, adding she hopes to meet with Garcia soon.
Gibson said the club was accommodating in giving Garcia use of the storage backroom. Also, Dog's Paw could have access if it reopened a door to a back stairwell that had been closed off by a previous restaurant owner, she added. "We want his business to succeed. We support him," Gibson said.