We have remained quiet about how things have been progressing with Flatirons for several reasons. The most important is that we were busy with back-to-school which has kept us extremely busy until just recently. The second is that we decided to make one last attempt to bring our battle with the church to an end by extending an offer that we thought was incredibly generous. Unfortunately, it was rejected for reasons that actually reveal a great deal about what Flatirons is really about. In order to fully appreciate our offer, it is necessary to go back to April of this year when the church first threatened us with eviction if we did not agree to move into the former Bistro 503 space. Our lease contains a clause that allows the landlord to move us into another space that is “substantially similar” to the one we currently occupy. The church, however, interpreted this clause to mean that the new space simply had to be the same size as our current space and claimed that they did not need to do any remodeling other than install a ramp for handicapped accessibility. The church, then, under the threat of eviction, demanded that we move into the former 503 space, including the 1,500 square foot kitchen that would remain untouched. Our response to this threat was to offer to move out of Lafayette altogether to a space that we estimated would cost far less to build out than what it would actually cost the church to make the 503 space substantially similar. The church’s response to that offer was that building out the 503 space would not cost them very much because they had no intention of altering the lighting, the flooring or anything else so they offered us $152,000 to cover all our moving expenses, additional rent we would have to pay for the next 3 years, lost business and other incidentals. We rejected that offer but also made it clear that there was no way we could use the 1,500 square foot kitchen. The church’s response was to change their demand to a combination of Crossroads Tavern and 503. Shortly after this last amendment, then, we agreed to sign the new lease. It had become clear to us that they were prepared to spend a great deal of money to pressure us into leaving at our own expense and we knew that we would not have the financial resources, nor the emotional and physical strength, to continue the fight successfully once they started eviction proceedings against us. The date for our move was then moved from July 15th to October 15th and then to February 15th where it stands now. The one critical concession that did finally come out of our efforts to avoid eviction was that the church and their lawyer finally conceded that the church actually had to build out the new space to make it substantially similar to the space we currently occupy. This was a major step forward and cost us well over $10,000 in legal expenses. Since the new buildout now included tearing out a wall and two bars, building a new office and counter, changing the lighting throughout both spaces, changing the flooring and many other things that we were told in writing would not be included with their initial offer of $152,000, we decided at the beginning of October to make the church an offer we sincerely felt it could not refuse – we would take the $152,000 plus free rent to February 15th, approximately $27,000, and we would leave the building on our own. We were willing to make this offer because we had just had a record back-to-school season, something that would not have happened if we had been forced to move prior to that period, and we estimated that the Christmas holidays would give us the opportunity to drastically reduce our inventory at the best time of the year. We long ago accepted the fact that this move was going to cost us a lot of money no matter how we went about it because the church had no intention of paying us a fair amount and would be relentless in making sure that they paid the very least they could legally get away with. We also knew that no matter what the church might promise us in terms of making the new space substantially similar, there was no guarantee that they would do any such thing and we cannot ignore the history of lies and deceptions that the church has already used against us, some of which we have already documented in various places. The bottom line is that on February 15th, 2016, we will have to move into this new space no matter what condition it is in or face eviction at that time and our only recourse, if the space is not substantially similar, something which is virtually impossible because of its location and layout, will be to either institute a massive legal battle or accept whatever it is the church gives us. Considering all the changes that the church is now admitting it would have to pay for, we estimated that the small amount of free rent we would be adding to their original offer would be nothing compared to the additional expense they were going to have to incur. We also thought that accepting this offer would help the church’s image since they would not have to evict Crossroads Tavern and could let them stay in that space just as Pat Wolfe, the owner, claims Paul Brunner had promised when the church bought the center. The church’s response, however, was that $152,000 was all they would pay but that they would deduct the rent from that amount if we wanted. Shortly after the church rejected our offer, however, Pat offered to pay our rent up until February 15th if the church would agree to pay the $152,000 to us and give him a lease for 5 years. Since Paul Brunner had once told Pat that the bar could stay and that Crossroads would get a lot of business once the church had built the new offices, it seemed like a reasonable offer so we presented that to the church. This time the rejection was a little bit different - it was not the extra rent that was the problem but the fact that we refused to sign a “non-disparagement” agreement along with the fact that the church had no interest in giving Pat a lease. We were willing to agree to a non-disclosure agreement which would have prevented us from revealing the exact details of our settlement but the non-disparagement agreement the church wanted would essentially have prevented Janet, myself, our employees and any “agent” of ours from saying anything negative about the church for any reason for the rest of our lives under threat of eviction during the time of our lease or, presumably, the threat of suit after the lease had expired. The argument that this was a reasonable request in a business arrangement like this settlement rings rather hollow with both Janet and myself because as much as Flatirons would like to think of themselves as simply a business like a shoe store or a bowling alley with the advantage of also being tax-exempt, it is still a church and they are representatives of Jesus Christ of Nazareth in whose name they bring together thousands of people a week to listen to sermons and give donations – they need to read the Bible and realize that they can’t have it both ways. Our petition, therefore, remains in effect just as it has from its inception and it will continue as long as we are in our current space under threat of being forced to move. We just wanted to let everyone know that, from our perspective, the fight is not over. For more information on Crossroad Tavern’s position, go to https://www.change.org/search?q=save+crossroads+tavern.