Wednesday last day on Chestnut Street
Wednesday is the last chance to visit Starport Arcade and Pub at its current location on Chestnut Street.
It’s not the end of Starport though, General Manager Skye Spalding said.
Spalding said while the business has been operating at a deficit and has been open mostly to give its employees a paycheck, COVID is not the primary cause of the closure.
The lease ends Dec. 31, and the current location has problems that limit expansion. Spalding said the plan was to have a new location ready to go and simply move, but things didn’t work out that way. Ideally, the business will reopen in a new location in the summer.
“I feel for the other bars and other restaurants in town that are in the middle of a five-year lease and don’t have this opportunity,” Spalding said. “We’re lucky we can close and not work at a loss. I’m not sure if others are getting breaks, but we didn’t get any breaks on rent. Not even when we were shut down.”
She said the owner has other ventures and wants to open again. All the machines will be stored, not sold.
According to its Facebook, all gift card balances will be refunded after the first of the year.
“We would love to thank all our supporters over our almost five year journey from our original location,” Starport posted. “We are so proud of all our community work with so many great people. It was an honor and privilege to meet so many people committed to so many wonderful causes.”
The goodbye post was filled with people sharing memories and wishing the business well on its reopening.
“I used to love going to Starport in college. It was always so much fun, and my friends and I had a blast,” said Kyleigh Rice. “I have a lot of memories there, like my first few dates with my boyfriend and playing skee ball after a long school week. I hope they reopen soon, and we can go back again for some fun.”
Starport will open at 7p.m. Wednesday.
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