Great Barrington — At its meeting on Monday, July 11, the selectboard tabled a request from The Triplex Cinema to allow it to temporarily serve alcohol and food on its patio at 70 Railroad St.
The request was added to the meeting agenda during the afternoon of July 11, a few hours before the meeting.
The request was made by Triplex owner Richard Stanley.
However, Stanley was in Canada at the time of the selectboard’s Zoom meeting and Triplex manager Tim Danner spoke on behalf of the theater.
Danner said that the theater wanted to serve alcohol and food on the patio during weekends.
“I support the Triplex and what they are doing, but I have some concerns about people walking around with it and taking it away,” Selectman Leigh Davis said. “And you know, glass versus plastic? It just seems like a whole new venture. I just would like some clarity on who is going to make sure that people aren’t walking around with it, and if it will be closed containers or open.”
“We will be pouring [the alcohol] into plastic containers, that way there is no breakage,” Danner said. “It will be supervised by our staff who will be serving the tables. It will be primarily for patrons who would be coming to see movies.”
“How can we ensure that this will be the case and it’s not just another outdoor bar opening up?” Davis asked.
“Every restaurant and bar in town has gotten permission to serve outside,” Selectman Edward Abrahams said. “Everybody with a liquor license is now permitted to serve outside once they come through us like this. What’s the difference?”
“It’s a movie theater, that’s why I’m wondering,” Davis told Abrahams.
Town Administrator Mark Pruhenski said that approval of the company’s request would fall under an extension of their current permit to serve indoors.
“We are still under temporary [state] guidelines that would allow for this,” Pruhenski said. “Until those guidelines disappear, this is acceptable to the state.”
“I’m just wondering how the other establishments that are serving beer, wine, and food feel about this,” Selectman Garfield Reed said. “I’m not saying anything against them. It just seems to me that there’s plenty of avenues for beer and alcohol in that courtyard.”
“This is something that this board has struggled with, but not me personally,” Chairman Stephen Bannon said. “I think it is a business and you allow whatever the businesses are doing. You don’t stop people from selling soda and other commodities. Why this as long as it’s legal?”
Eventually during the conversation, it came out that the Triplex would be partnering with Départ Wine to, as Danner stated “to advise us to what wines to bring in.”
“Départ Wine is licensed as a package store,” Pruhenski said. “They are not licensed for any pouring and they’ve been notified of that. Any partnerships between the Triplex and Départ Wine should be just for advice and not for service.”
Both Selectman Eric Gabriel and Chairman Bannon said that the request from Triplex was not part of his meeting information document packet.
“Usually when we do these, there’s seating arrangements and charts, then something that says the part about the wine, along with who the owners are,” Gabriel said. “Seems like it would have been a good thing to have written.”
“I feel that this is incomplete,” Davis said. “I’d like to get more information.
“My concern with that is that it’s two weeks’ worth of business that they lose in a very short summer season,” Abrahams said.
“I still have some concerns,” Davis told Abrahams. “How many tables? Is the staff young and will most of them be under 21?”
Eventually, the board decided to table the request until their special goal-setting meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, July 20.
