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http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2012/0...2a097587860.txt

Stony Gardens leaving Marquette Mall

The exterior of Stony Gardens at Marquette Mall. Photo by Tim Moran
By Tim Moran
Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, February 12, 2012 5:05 PM CST
MICHIGAN CITY — Owners of Stony Gardens/The Black-Eyed P restaurant closed their Marquette Mall location this week, announcing immediate plans to move the specialty foods restaurant to a new downtown location.

A local promoter, however, said the decision adversely affected two talent showcases he’d scheduled this weekend at Stony Gardens.

On Thursday night, Michigan City promoter Bruce Wren was finalizing plans for Friday’s and Saturday’s offerings when he received word from one Stony Gardens owner that the events must be canceled, allegedly indicating to Wren the restaurant’s inability to serve alcohol played a slight factor in the decision.

“I was upset,” Wren said, noting he was expecting hundreds of people to pack the Stony Gardens halls for the showcases.

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“If they had called me Monday, I would have been able to find a different venue, but since I did not receive the call until 6:45 (p.m.) Thursday, there was not enough time.

“We were going to have this videotaped, edited and sent to the Summer Festival committee,” Wren said, adding his hopes are to have the talent showcase become part of the city’s Summer Festival events. “Marquette Mall is a spot everyone knows. This would have been our best one.”

With numerous singers, performers and bands from as far as Crown Point planning on making an appearance in Michigan City this weekend, Wren said he is disappointed with the owners.

“I went all out promoting this on Facebook and in the newspapers,” he said. “We wanted this to be standing-room only.”

Wren said the owner’s explanation for the cancellation — that the business would not benefit because it could not serve alcohol – did not make sense.

“How could it have been just that?,” he asked. “They never had a liquor license for that spot in the first place.”

One Stony Gardens partner confirmed Friday the business has plans to move to a new Michigan City location, closer to the downtown area.

“It’s a better location for us,” said the owner, who did not provide his name. “We will be able to be closer to the arts district and the development going on downtown.

“We are excited about our new location,” he added. “We are going to bring good things to downtown Michigan City and look forward to opening.”

The new location, the owner said, has not been determined.

“It may take awhile to move in,” he said.

A Marquette Mall spokeswoman would not confirm Stony Gardens’ departure from the mall, and did not say if the issue of a liquor license was a factor in any possible dispute.

Regardless of the reason, Wren believes the situation should have been handled better by the owners.

“I don’t want the youth to think I backed out on them,” Wren said, noting he plans to reschedule the show, possibly in the Marquette Mall lobby or at Elston Middle School, if he can get approval from the school.