Santa Fe Cafe’s tumultuous relationship with the city will finally come to a close as the popular downtown bar shuts its doors for good later this month.
Owner Mark Srour appeared before the College Park City Council Tuesday night to inform the city of his decision not to renew the lease that covers two of his bars.
“The last day for Santa Fe and The Mark will be May 22 of this year,” Srour said. “I sent a letter to the liquor board stating that, also. That’s it.”
Srour said in an interview he harbors no hard feelings toward the landlord or the city, despite their disagreements over the years.
“My lease was up, and me and the landlord just couldn’t come to an agreement on pricing,” Srour said. “It’s business. She went in a direction I couldn’t go in.”
But after years of conflict, some city officials were less diplomatic.
“Goodbye and good riddance,” District 2 Councilman Jack Perry said in an interview. “He doesn’t want to comply with the law — what else can I say? I agree with the decision of the courts. And if he has to go, then so be it.”
Srour added that he will help the landlord find another tenant to take over the property.
“What I’ll miss most is watching the students and the live music,” Srour said. “We’ve had some fantastic acts. I tried to do something that isn’t really here in College Park.”
Among the artists who performed at Santa Fe were Eve 6, Busta Rhymes, Lit and Shwayze, as well as local bands and DJs.
The bar suffered a series of recent setbacks, including tough competition from Thirsty Turtle, a legal battle over a sprinkler system and a struggle to find investors for a large renovation.
Sante Fe closed for renovations last May and remained closed during the summer and most of last semester even as no work was occurring. Srour said he had been in talks with former Terrapin men’s basketball player and NBA All-Star Steve Francis in hopes he would invest in the bar, but that deal never materialized.
The bar did eventually reopen for four nights a week this semester after operating only sporadically in the fall, but the renovations — including a mandated sprinkler system — never began.
Srour voluntarily signed an agreement with the city in 2003 stating he would install the system within three years. After multiple reprieves from the council and nearly two years of legal battles, a Prince George’s County judge last month ordered him to install them within 90 days or face closure.
A sprinkler is not required by law in old buildings, but the city argued that Srour had a legal obligation to honor his contract. Srour had said in the past he couldn’t afford the system’s $90,000 cost and that his landlord refused to help fund the installation.
“The city has basically forced me to install the sprinkler system because I didn’t have the support of the landlord,” Srour said after Tuesday’s meeting. By closing Santa Fe, Srour avoids any legal obligation to install sprinklers .
He said he will continue to operate Cornerstone Grill and Loft even as he shutters his two other College Park bars.
“I will always run and own that until I’m probably six feet under,” Srour said, adding that since he owns rather than leases the building, it is easier for him to run.
Srour’s announcement caught many Santa Fe fans off guard, especially as he had said last year that he saw no reason his lease wouldn’t be renewed for another 10 years.
“I’m shocked and not happy,” junior Italian major Rob Helman said. “It was the only place you could really go to see live music.”
Santa Fe has a devoted following in College Park, adding to the dismay that would likely follow any bar’s closure.
“I’m actually really upset,” junior communication major Samantha Bolduc said. “It’s my favorite bar. It’s going to be weird going out and only having Turtle, Cornerstone and [R.J.] Bentley’s to choose from.”
Bolduc said the best part of Santa Fe was the live music and large outdoor patio that allowed patrons to walk around freely and the live music.
“I would love another bar that’s like Santa Fe,” she said. “Fe is pretty much perfect there. It has a venue; it has a huge area outside; it just has everything you’d want in a college atmosphere.”
But some students said the bar’s inconsistent schedule made it hard to sustain a loyal customer base. Others reported a strange odor emanating from the bar and cited flooded bathrooms as a reason they stayed away.
“It was really dirty and the worst one out of the bars in College Park,” junior chemistry major Min Seo said. “The other bars are pretty bad too, but that one was the worst.”
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