Bar owner will appeal revocation order

The owner of Jeremiah's, a bar at 127 Water St., said Monday he will appeal the order revoking the bar's license.

Donald Ganim, owner of Jeremiah's since the mid-1990s, also said he has the bar under contract to new owners who will take over before the revocation order takes effect Nov. 9.

The state Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control revoked the liquour license for Jeremiah's, 127 Water St., because the bar allowed a minor on the premises after 11 p.m. in violation of special restrictions placed on the license after previous violations, the state's top liquor control official said Monday.

Jeremiah's, which has had at least 10 license suspensions in the past 10 years, will lose its license to sell alcohol Nov. 9 unless the revocation is reversed by the state Administrative Hearing Commission, state liquor control supervisor Peter Lobdell said.

Jeremiah's can also avoid the revocation if another acceptable licensee purchases the bar before that date, Lobdell said.

Liquor control agents caught the minor drinking in Jeremiah's on Feb. 10. An informal hearing on the case was held Sept. 18 in Cape Girardeau, Lobdell said, but no representatives of the bar appeared.

Ganim said that a reporter's call was the first he had heard about the license action. He blamed difficulties with mail deliveries as a possible culprit for failing to appear at the hearing.

The revocation was likely a result of that no-show, Ganim said. "In a nutshell, they took it as a slap in the face that I didn't show up for my hearing. Liquor control has shut me down a dozen times, but they are always fair."

The bar is already under contract for sale to a new owner, Ganim said. The last day of operation under his control is set for Nov. 3, he said.

He intends to also appeal the revocation order. "The only reason I am doing this is to save my name so I can open up something in the future if I want to."

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