Von Lee 'alcohol' meeting approaches

The Monroe County Alcoholic Beverage Board will decide the fate of the Von Lee Theater at a hearing Wednesday morning.\nProperty owner Artemis LLC intends to refurbish the former movie house as an upscale bar and restaurant, but it needs a liquor license to do so. The Save the Von Lee committee, headed by Chris Sturbaum, will attempt to convince the board to deny the license.\n"The law is actually written to give the community a lot of weight," said Sturbaum. "There are at least four or five reasons in this code that are legitimate reasons to not put a bar there."\nThe Bloomington City Council wrote a letter to the board detailing these reasons and advising denial of the permit. \nThe University has also taken a stance against the establishment of the bar. In a previous interview with the Indiana Daily Student, Lynn Coyne, IU director of real estate and economic development, cited the already prevalent student alcohol use and symbolic location across from the Sample Gates as chief reasons for their position.\nBut most students would be in favor of an establishment that might facilitate safer alcohol use, Student Body President Casey Cox said.\n"We think the closer to campus the students are going to be to such a location, the safer they probably are when leaving those establishments," Cox said. "We want to make it known that students do care about what's going on in the community and make sure our voices aren't drowned out by a larger issue."\nThe Alcoholic Beverage board, chaired by Fred Turner, also includes IU Dean of Students Richard McKaig and Bloomington resident Bruce Huot. The three will hear all sides of the issue at 9 a.m. in the Monroe County Courthouse.\n"I'll wait to see the evidence," said Turner, "and then we'll take it from there."\n-- Contact staff writer Mike McElroy at mmcelroy@indiana.edu.