Bruce's Stone Pony club may gallop into the sunset

ASSOCIATED PRESS ^ | June 30, 2003

[presidio9]

ASBURY PARK — The owner of the Stone Pony, who once said waterfront developers would get control of it only “over my dead body,” has agreed to sell to them, putting the famed shore nightclub’s future in jeopardy — again. Domenic Santana will sell the building and transfer its liquor license to Asbury Partners, a company overseeing a $1.2 billion makeover of the city’s decrepit waterfront.

Under the sale agreement, Asbury Partners could demolish the building, build a new club elsewhere in the city and call it the Stone Pony, while Santana would be allowed to use the name to promote concerts, he said Monday.

In addition, he will stay on under a management contract while Asbury Partners decides what to do with it, he said.

“If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” said Santana.

“I’m in a no-win situation. I can’t be throwing rocks in progress’ way and fighting the developers. They have big pockets for legal bills. It was the lawyers who were going to make a lot of money out of both of us,” he said.

Santana, of Jersey City, bought the club for $375,000 four years ago. He wouldn’t say how much the sale price will be. Several calls to Asbury Partners chief operating officer Larry Fishman were not returned Monday.

The City Council is to vote on transfer of the liquor license to Asbury Partners on Wednesday, clearing the way for a sale in early July, Santana said.

Famous as a former stomping ground of Bruce Springsteen and other Jersey rockers, the club was the subject of a grassroots “Save the Stone Pony” campaign after it appeared headed for demolition as part of the waterfront development.

But supporters, calling it a landmark worth saving, rallied and persuaded the city and Asbury Partners not to raze it.

At a January 2002 rally, Santana promised not to let it go without a fight.

“There is no dollar value on an icon that means so much to American rock and roll,” he told about 100 supporters. “Read my lips: Hell no, we won’t go. Over my dead body!”

He said Monday that liability worries after the Rhode Island nightclub fire, together with the fact that the redevelopment plan calls for surrounding it with condominiums, made him realize he could not keep the club where it is.

When asked the purchase price, Santana said: “I can’t say, but I’m smiling.”

Stone Pony fans may not be.

Don Stine, a bookstore owner who co-chaired the Save the Stone Pony Committee, said the building was a magnet for music buffs who come to Asbury Park to see it.

Building a new club and calling it the Stone Pony wouldn’t be the same, he said.

“I honestly don’t know what this action means for the future of the Stone Pony. I’m not optimistic. I feel the building is obviously threatened.”

Bob Crane, president of Save Tillie, a Springsteen fan organization that has urged preservation of The Palace amusements building, said the developers should recognize the appeal of the club.

“I don’t think they bought the Pony to obliterate the Pony. I think there’s the possibility that they bought it to recreate it somewhere else,” he said.

Santana said he believes the building will ultimately be demolished as part of the waterfront redevelopment.

“There will be fans who will be disappointed. To them I say, change is inevitable. To go forward for the benefit and success of an enduring American treasure — the whole city of Asbury Park — we need to look beyond.”

[dead]

All the history aside, it's a dumpy bar in a dumpier town.

I saw They Might Be Giants and Dramarama there.

[presidio9]

On a positive note, if they DO tear it down, I'm sure the Boss will put in a farewell performance there. Better start lining up at the door now...

[dead]

I almost went there last summer, hoping to catch a Bruce show. We thought we had it all figured out:

• It was the Saturday before Bruce's Good Morning America week.
• One of Miami Steve's old bands from the seventies was playing there that night.
• We saw James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano) on the boardwalk in Pt. Pleasant that afternoon.

  We decided that Bruce and the band was going to show up at the Stone Pony, and Van Zandt had let Gandolfini know, so that's why he was down the shore.

  But we stayed and drank in the Tiki bar instead, and Bruce didn't show up that night anyway.

  (how do I get my paragraphs to go back after bullets? Anybody? Bueller?)

[newgeezer]

“There is no dollar value.... Read my lips: Hell no, we won’t go. Over my dead body!”

He said Monday that liability worries after the Rhode Island nightclub fire, together with the fact that the redevelopment plan calls for surrounding it with condominiums, made him realize he could not keep the club where it is.

When asked the purchase price, Santana said: “I can’t say, but I’m smiling.”

Nice to see he can smile while allegedly worrying about liability and the impending encroachment of condo-land.

[newgeezer]

(how do I get my paragraphs to go back after bullets? Anybody? Bueller?)

Bulleted ("unordered") list:

<UL>
     <LI>
     <LI>
     <LI>
     ...
</UL>

[dead]

• Thank you.
• You’re a good man.

It works.

[newgeezer]

1. You're
2. welcome
3. (don't
4. mention it).

[XRdsRev]

Condos = Slums of the Future

This past weekend I was driving to an event with a friend who has spent decades in the building trades. He feels that only fools buy condos. Generally they are poorly designed and built with cheap materials. There are exceptions of course but very few of them are built to have any real longevity. After about 20 years they start to fall apart.

[presidio9]

When was the last time he actually DID show up there?

[Clemenza]

There are exceptions of course but very few of them are built to have any real longevity. After about 20 years they start to fall apart.

Obviously, your friend has been to South Florida. The Condos that were built in Miami and Broward County during the 1970s and 80s are falling apart and looking seedy. Rentals down there typically decline faster, usually within ten years of construction.