Commission hits 'pause' on rock 'n' roll bar plan

Don't let the name - Mark's House of Rock 'N' Roll - fool you, said the bar's would-be owner, Mark Fowkes.

"I'm going to target the 35- to 50-year-old crowd and that eliminates a lot of the typical bar problems right there," Fowkes told the Wheeling Plan Commission on Thursday. "I will police my place. If there is a problem, I'll take care of it."

However, plan commissioners wanted more information on exactly how Fowkes would clean up the building's exterior and tabled his application until June 11.

About five residents also said they were concerned about noise and litter the bar might bring to the area.

Mark's House of Rock 'N Roll would open at the former Hangouts site at 322 N. Milwaukee Ave.

The bar would be open until 2 a.m. during the weekends and have live music.

There would be no food service, but customers could order food from Kilcoyne's Redwood Inn next door, Fowkes said.

Plan Commissioner Jim Ruffatto said the site needs some sprucing up.

"The building's facade is in terrible shape," he said. "It's falling apart but I would like to see some sort of plan to fix it up."

The building has been vacant since Hangouts closed about two years ago, Fowkes said.

Bruce Neumann is a Kilcoyne's customer and is worried about parking space.

"Kilcoyne's sponsors my softball team and when we're there on Monday nights the parking lot is more than half full," Neumann said.

Randy Wright owns A House of Rental, located just south of the site. He's seen several bars call 322 N. Milwaukee Ave home and none of them have been great neighbors, he said.

"You close at 2 a.m. and we open at 8 a.m.," Wright said. "We're always saddled with the responsibility of cleaning up after customers. There is always debris on our site and bottles get thrown over the fence."

Should Fowkes get the plan commission's approval on June 11, he'll need final approval from the Wheeling village board.

"It's an older place and I can't make it new," Fowkes said after Thursday's meeting. "But it's going to be clean and neat."