OFF THE WIRE
A Fredericton councillor said the city purchased a local strip club after the Hells Angels showed interest in buying the North Star. (CBC)
he Hells Angels biker gang was interested in purchasing a Fredericton strip club before the city decided to buy it this week, according to a councillor.
Coun. Stephen Chase, the chairman of the city's development committee, said on Wednesday the police informed city council of the biker gang's interest in the North Star Sports Bar.
"They may already own property here, they or people like them, may already own property. But to carry out the kinds of activities they might have carried out in this location that is something we can control," Chase said.
The city councillor said the police highlighted the potential sale to the biker gang as a "potential problem."
However, Chase said the idea of the Hells Angels buying the bar was not the driving force behind the deal.
"It is a factor but I think the purchase stands on its own merits. The need to develop that area. The Union Street area is in need of development," he said.
The North Star Sports Bar was assessed at $364,900 by Service New Brunswick, but the city is paying $500,000 for the bar and some additional property.
Chase said city staff are confident the property, which currently generates $7,000 in tax revenue, can be flipped to a new developer "in the very near future."
"We can easily generate 10 times that," Chase said.
Chase said he is confident once the building is torn down someone will want to buy the site to build new housing.
The city's development plan calls for more residential units in that area and a few developers have expressed interest.
Ken Flinn, the bar's previous owner, died last fall. It was passed on to five of his children.
Krystal Dawson-Wedge, a daughter of the former owner, said the family was content to sell.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/07/13/nb-hells-angels-north-star-1127.html
