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Finnigan's Wake expansion plan gets even bigger
The NoLibs bar wants to take over a street and build decks over a public sidewalk - and the city may let them do it.
Finnigan's Wake expansion plan gets even bigger
The guys behind Finnigan's Wake, at the beer-and-vomit-soaked corner of Spring Garden and Third streets, don't think small. So when Northern Liberties neighbors last year managed to turn back a plan to give Finnigan's a tiny alley called Bodine Street — which the bar had been blocking with a dumpster for years, and which the bar owners saw as the perfect spot for a two-story outdoor deck conveniently abutting the property held by their friends at the Democratic City Committee — they went back to the drawing board. The result: What you see above. Yes, those are two 800-plus-square-foot decks full of fun, which co-owner Mike Driscoll says would be necessary to his goal of converting most of Finnigan's business to catered events.
Driscoll says those decks would also be critical to financing what's pictured below, the overhaul of Bodine Street, transforming it from Dumpster Alley to Attractive Pedestrian Walkway. The rendering shows a walkway of pavers, an outdoor dining area, and a photo mural of the current Finnigan's Spring Garden facade so that passersby can remember the bad old days.
All of this bounty hinges on two ordinances to be shepherded through City Council by First District Councilman Mark Squilla, who promised not to push them forward without neighborhood approval. Larry Freedman, zoning chairman of Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association, which met with Finnigan's this week, says it hasn't been an easy sell. "I have marks on my head from each side from getting punched by people," he jokes. But the Bodine Street plans have met with a warmer reception than the Spring Garden proposal, which conjured visions of 180 21-year-olds smoking and downing pints. Plus, as one resident put it, "What's the benefit to the community other than being a land grab for Finnigan's?"
The benefit, Driscoll implied, is bringing bar business from 75 percent down to 25 percent of Finnigan's income stream (besides, he says, 20somethings "don't even have jobs" anymore, so who needs 'em?). And, it's finally getting someone to take responsibility for a block the city has allowed to languish unrepaired for years. Negotiations are still ongoing, and NLNA will have more info in a few weeks.
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