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The former 103 Ultra Lounge on Park Street in Orono could soon re-open its doors as a restaurant and entertainment facility.
“I would expect to see an Italian eatery and entertainment spot opening there soon,” said Rob Snow, former manager of the 103 Ultra Lounge. Snow, who was asked to provide input, added that the new ownership “is in the process of licensing the facility.”
Garth Grandchamp, a local businessman, is taking over the facility’s lease. Grandchamp, the owner of Net 2 Press Inc., a printing services firm out of Portland, was unavailable to comment on his newest business.
Alex Grey, who does business as Albenco Inc. of Old Town and is the owner of the building, believes that Grandchamp plans to emphasize the restaurant aspect and promote less of the building’s traditional nightclub atmosphere. In Grey’s eyes, the change the venue will undertake is a positive thing and helped him decide to lease the building to Grandchamp.
“He wants to make it more of a restaurant with more food options and create less of a club and dancing setting,” Grey said. “That was more of what I was looking for in the building and what the town of Orono was looking for, I think.”
Grey was the manager of the facility’s original business, Ushuaia’s, which was shut down in 2006 due to the Orono Town Council’s decision to deny the club’s request to renew his liquor license.
The town council felt Grey’s club was a threat to the community and cited 47 incidents at the club, including two unrelated stabbings in 2005. Following the closure of Club Ushuaia, Grey leased the building to Rob Snow beginning in 2007.
Snow encountered the same problems Grey ran into while running the building. In 2009, the Orono Town Council nearly denied Snow renewal of his liquor license, citing over intoxication, the presence of minors and violence. The incidents of violence included a case in which a woman’s skull was fractured after a man struck her twice in the head with a metal baton in the parking lot, according to a 2009 story in The Maine Campus.
Only after Snow returned to the second hearing with a revamped plan to prevent such occurrences did the council approve his liquor license for another year.
Snow’s hearing in front of the Orono Town Council on Feb. 8, 2010 to renew his liquor license was much like the hearing last year. The council denied his request, citing the same pattern of violence, overcrowding and over-serving. The town council believes he failed to meet the requirements of his own plan to improve the building from the year before. Snow appealed the decision but voluntarily dropped the case.
“I decided to withdraw my appeal, turn in my licenses and move on to greener pastures,” Snow said.
Grey said he was unaware of the grand opening date of the restaurant and added that it would not be long after the process of proper licensing has been completed. The building’s history will require that Grandchamp complete everything through the proper channels with the town of Orono.
“I wish them luck in the future,” Snow said. “The students of the surrounding colleges need something like this.”
Bangor Daily News