The yippee kai yay of Cowboys will replace the yelps and howls of Coyotes just in time for Stampede as Penny Lane Entertainment, which owns both bars, ditched its plan to relocate the notoriously rowdy bar to Eau Claire.
Pressure of constructing a new facility in time for Stampede, coupled with misinformation and ongoing concerns of Eau Claire residents over noise, led Penny Lane president Paul Vickers to make what he called a “compromise” at the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board hearing yesterday, vowing to relocate the popular bar to Coyotes on Olympic Way.
“I don’t think forever, it’s only a matter of time with the development that’s happening at that location, Cowboys will be there just temporarily,” he said. “A permanent home, I believe, is necessary to be in a place where we can have an entertainment district and I think Cowboys needs to be a part of that, needs to be involved in that kind of area.”
Parking, an increased influx of emergency services, noise and intoxicated patrons wandering residential streets are a few of the reasons Eau Claire’s Brenda Harris said Cowboys wasn’t a good fit for her community.
While she’s glad that won’t be an issue now, she thinks the whole process should start over.
“I think it’s a moot point now. They’ve changed everything around.”
But 13-year Eau Claire resident Nel Storey thinks the affluent nature of the neighbourhood is the only reason why any stink was raised over the Cowboys move in the first place.
“No one community is more important than another, but because some can speak louder or whatever, it becomes a big deal and if this was happening in less affluent areas, say the northeast, southeast, it wouldn’t be the same process,” Storey said.
-neil.mackinnon@metronews.ca
