OFF THE WIRE.
cbc.ca
A dump truck tipped over in front of the North Star Sports Bar on Thursday. (Matt McCann/CBC)
The North Star Sports Bar's final days are turning out to be as troublesome as the strip club's past after a dump truck tipped over and spilled its load in front of the Fredericton bar.
The final few days of the bar's existence had been interrupted by the sound of work crews working on a strip of Clark Street outside of the North Star.
That consistent noise of the work crews was punctuated on Thursday by a loud bang when a dump truck tipped over, spilling its load and blocking the bar's driveway.
Helen Powers, a member of the road crew, said the workers watched and stood helpless to stop the accident.
'So not only did they take the jobs from us, but they're stopping any kind of business that we have within the last four days.'— Holly Ramsay, bar manager
"There was quite a bang with it. And actually several of us were going, like, 'Oh no, oh no.' But there was nothing we could do. We were just surprised about it," she said.
But the dump truck accident is only the latest setback for the controversial bar during its final days.
The North Star was recently purchased by the city of Fredericton for $500,000 with the intention of closing the capital city's only strip club and destroying it to make room for new development.
It was only acknowledged after the deal that the Fredericton Police had advised local politicians the Hells Angels biker gang had set its sights on purchasing the 16-year-old strip club.
Holly Ramsay, the bar's day manager, said the city's trucks have been blocking the North Star's driveway for the past week, forcing customers interested in one last round to park at a nearby gas station.
"Not only do customers not have access to the bar, but we have absolutely no chance of making money," Ramsay said.
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| The strip club will be torn down after the city officially purchases it on Sunday. (Matt McCann/CBC) |
Last call at the Fredericton strip club will be on Sunday. Soon after the doors close for the final time, the city will tear down the building.
The city's development plan calls for more residential units in that area and politicians say a few developers have expressed interest in purchasing that property.
When it came time to make a pitch for the property, the city opted to purchase the bar and its land for a price above its assessed value.
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.
A local city councillor said at the time of the purchase that city staff are confident the property, which currently generates $7,000 in tax revenue, can be flipped to a new developer in the near future and earn 10 times the current tax revenue.
