Wednesday, February 09, 2000
Newport wants Barleycorn's evicted
BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — One of the oldest floating restaurants on the Ohio River could be without a home after the city filed a complaint Tuesday to evict Barleycorn's.
The boat and barge that comprise the restaurant/bar have been next to the Taylor-Southgate Bridge (just below the floodwall and the Newport Aquarium) since owner Ken Heil bought them from Dewey Peluso in 1984.
Newport City Manager Phil Ciafardini said Tuesdaythat for the past two years, Mr. Heil and his company have missed lease payments totaling $123,764.97.
While Mr. Heil owns the boat/barge, the city owns all the riverfront property, which also includes the spaces rented by Sloppy Joe's, Remington's and Hooter's.
The “forcible detainer complaint” filed in Campbell District Court claims failure to pay the designated amount constitutes a breach of the lease, and asks that Barleycorn's be evicted in order for the city to resume control of the property.
“He's (Mr. Heil) been paying everything else, but he has not been meeting his minimum (lease) payment,” Mr. Ciafardini said.
The lease agreement signed with the city in 1986 calls for payments based on percentage of gross receipts, but the minimum per year is $100,000. Barleycorn's has made only partial payments.
Attempts to reach Mr. Heil were unsuccessful. He also operates Barleycorn's restaurants on Dixie Highway in Lakeside Park, Industrial Road in Cold Spring and Sixth Street in downtown Cincinnati.
“We've been trying to work with (Mr. Heil) for months to reach some agreement on this matter,” Mr. Ciafardini said. “We realize that there have been some
difficult times recently ... the closing of the Central Bridge while the new Taylor-Southgate Bridge was being constructed, and the 1997 flood.
“But we can't wait any longer for payment. We're hopeful that he can come up with something new, something that will help his business. We're willing to continue to work with him, but in the meantime, we will market the site and see if there is any interest.”
If the city does not receive the delinquent lease payments, the Barleycorn's boat will be ordered to leave the site. What would happen at that point is unclear.
City records indicate Barleycorn's was declaring gross receipts of about $3.5 million in the early 1990s, but last year gross receipts were $1.5 million.
“The floating riverfront businesses aren't doing as well as they were a few years ago,” Mr. Ciafardini said. “Of course, they have always been seasonal, and being successful on the river isn't easy. But the newer restaurants like Chart House and Don Pablo's, which are built above the river rather than on floating barges, are doing much better.”
Mr. Ciafardini also pointed out the Barleycorn's location “is a good spot for some public space. We might take a look at keeping it for some sort of park setting, depending on the kind of interest we see in leasing it. But any new lease would be negotiated, not the same as that for Barleycorn's.”
The Barleycorn's riverboat was built in 1935 and christened the Neville. It was a working towboat on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers before anchoring permanently along Newport's Riverboat Row.
The diesel-powered boat was sold and renamed several times before its towboat career came to an end in 1971 when it sank in the Mississippi River. A year later, the boat was raised and was bought by Helen Peluso Enzweiler, who operated it as the Newport Yacht Club along with a barge she already owned.
After Mr. Heil bought the boat, he renovated the interior by installing a 100-seat restaurant and a commercial kitchen on the first deck, and a 250-seat banquet room on the second deck.
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