People are going to think I am picking on a local business just because. I am not. This is a question of public safety, and how neighbors are being treated.
A post on NextDoor caught my eye, and it wasn’t the first post I had seen about problems living near the new Brickette Lounge on Historic/Old Route 100:
I just have to say this…I live near the Brickette, I am very proud of locally owned businesses. However tonight as many other nights the patrons of the place parked directly on Pottstown Pike right in front of the business as well as on Kirkland and other streets close to the bar. I am aware of this situation as it happens often so when I see it I know to be careful turning from Pottstown Pike onto Kirkland & vise versa. This is an issue that needs to be addressed due to the fact as I was turning onto Kirkland tonight and traveling up the street, another vehicle coming in the opposite direction almost hit me head on as with cars parked on the side of the road it leaves the road very narrow there is no way to move over. Thank god the other vehicle saw me at the last moment, came to a stop and we both drove away safe but these patrons parking causing hazards must stop! Some of my neighbors have even found people passed out or eating McDonalds on their front lawn in the middle of the night! The police have been notified on several occasions but nothing has been done to stop this very dangerous situation. Can anyone point me in the right direction of who within the township I can express my concerns to. Thank you in advance.
This is not the first time since they reopened, that I’ve heard these complaints. You see these posts go up in places, and then they come down. Yet the problems seem to persist.
I have no problems with live music, I have no problems with line dancing, but I do have problems when patrons of a bar and seemingly the actual establishment don’t respect the neighborhood in which the bar sits. And whether these patrons and/ or the establishment like it or not, this establishment has residential around it, and they need to be treated with respect.
Kirkland Avenue is its own small neighborhood. And if you’ve ever been on it, it’s a fairly narrow road. It runs between West King and Old Pottstown Pike.
That street is not an extension of a parking lot. And I could tell you honestly without batting an eye if I found bar patrons on my front lawn eating McDonald’s when a bar closed, I would turn a garden hose on them.
The Brickette is owned by a company that owns lots of local watering holes. (See https://www.3westhospitality.com/venues )
3 West Hospitality describes themselves as:
3 West Hospitality is a growing restaurant operations and management group that is focused on high-quality concepts and staff development based out of Southeastern Pennsylvania.
I know West Whiteland is trying to deal with this. They are in the process of ordering no parking signs but they are advertising for the signs and no parking on Old Pottstown Pike and Kirkland Ave, etc. and that takes time.
The company which owns the Brickette could do better, but are they in fact being a little hands off? I mean they should want to be a good neighbor, right? The old Brickette Lounge didn’t do this. They never had to deal with parking problems. They weren’t crappy to neighbors.
Last week the Chair of the West Whiteland Supervisors, Brian Dunn, went out on Monday evening at the request of residents to check out how busy the Brickette is on Mondays. You see they do line dancing Mondays and Wednesday. Well he almost got hit coming out on Old Pottstown Pike/ Old Route 100 because of ALL of the people parking on Old Route 100/Pottstown Pike!
People were really excited when it was announced that the Brickette was being saved. Michael Klein reported in The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2022:
Again, I am really glad that this place is doing so well again. It looked so dismal for the last few years of its prior existence. However, there are neighbors to be considered, and there are safety issues.
The owners of this place should be looking for solutions. Success is a great thing to have, but if you can’t fit all your patrons on your footprint, then you have to look to safely solve the problem. People parking on Old Route 100/Pottstown Pike is not safely solving any problems it’s basically Mae West’s famous quote “Hello, Suckers” because it’s only a question of when someone gets hit leaving this bar for parking there, not if, right?
3 West Hospitality and the Brickette could make the line dancing nights or whatever an Eventbrite event. That way when they sold out enough tickets that covered the spaces in the parking lot, they were done for the night on that event. They could rent a shuttle bus and offer shuttle service.
Brickette Lounge has expenses they have to meet for sure, but they also have a responsibility towards the community they exist in. They also have a responsibility towards their guests. And by not stressing things like don’t park on the road in front of the bar, they put patrons at risk, don’t they? Are profits worth more than lives?
Maybe Brickette Lounge doesn’t give a damn about these issues, but they should, shouldn’t they?
It’s that simple.
Be better, Brickette Lounge. Please.
