Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Dubliner's Demise and Rebirth
During this past week, there have been stories, articles, blogs about the Dubliner and it's demise. They ranged from hatred to sorrow. But the story, I think, ends with a positive. The end result will be a Dubliner based in Pleasant Ridge, anchoring the business district. It could have been a lot worse for a neighborhood that rests between greatness and disaster. It's a very active community and has seen a huge influx of younger residents (at least a half a dozen people I know have purchased a home in P-Ridge in the last 5 years). But it's also seen it's share of failures, the most prominent being the Pleasant Ridge Market which closed last year.
For Owner and former communicty council President Mike Kull, the story ends with sadness. A prosperous small business owner, whose demise was surely in trying to expand his holdings with the Mariemont Homestead Tavern. I don't have first hand knowledge but I suspect the loan he took out and defaulted on was likely to jumpstart Homestead, which eventually failed. Had he stuck with only the Dubliner he may have survived. Now, Kull, loses not only The Homestead, but also the very successful Dubliner and is left empty handed. Now he has no job, no restaurants and four kids to feed. Hopefully he's able to turn things around and find something to be successful at.
On the flip side, for the community and Cincinnati, the good news is the Dubliner will be back in March. It'll be up and ready before St. Pat's day. I think it's great to have that anchor survive, and hopefully prosper. I suspect there will be a great many people in Cincinnati that won't even realize the bar closed for 2 months...
For Owner and former communicty council President Mike Kull, the story ends with sadness. A prosperous small business owner, whose demise was surely in trying to expand his holdings with the Mariemont Homestead Tavern. I don't have first hand knowledge but I suspect the loan he took out and defaulted on was likely to jumpstart Homestead, which eventually failed. Had he stuck with only the Dubliner he may have survived. Now, Kull, loses not only The Homestead, but also the very successful Dubliner and is left empty handed. Now he has no job, no restaurants and four kids to feed. Hopefully he's able to turn things around and find something to be successful at.
On the flip side, for the community and Cincinnati, the good news is the Dubliner will be back in March. It'll be up and ready before St. Pat's day. I think it's great to have that anchor survive, and hopefully prosper. I suspect there will be a great many people in Cincinnati that won't even realize the bar closed for 2 months...
