Struggling Pittsfield Polish Club Must Appoint New Manager
 The Polish Community Club could lose its liquor license if a new manager isn't named. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The board of directors of the Polish Community Club was to meet this week to name a new manager for its bar or face the potential loss of its liquor license.
A recent altercation at the club has lead to questions about the management of the establishment, an issue that the city's Licensing Board would like to see rectified immediately.
"You're really not operating legally without a responsible person in charge," said Licensing Board member Robert Quattrochi at a meeting on Monday.
Currently, the club is holding a license without an acting manager, following the July death of Stella Spence, a past president of the club and licensee for the club's liquor license.
Club treasurer Joseph Zradi said its president had been handling most of the duties of manager for the bar since Spence's passing, but the board was adamant that a formal change of manager must be filed with the state's Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission immediately to retain their license to serve.
"The Polish Community Club itself is struggling in a bad way," Zradi told the board.
"Business has been very slow," agreed bartender and club board member Marianne Lavigne.
The matter was brought to the board by Pittsfield Police Lieutenant Michael Grady, who said that police had responded to a call about a brief disturbance at the club on August 23. Grady said they were greeted by an inebriated Zradi acting on behalf of the club, in the absence of any manager on duty.
"The disturbance itself was not the problem," Grady said. "I'm here before the board because the person in charge of the bar was heavily intoxicated."
Zradi said he was at the bar that night as a patron, and merely stepped in to try to pacify the fight that had broken out, and address the issue with the officers as a member of the club, as the bartender on duty was busy and no other club leadership was present at the time.
"It doesn't seem that your hours are so prohibitive that a manager can't be there on duty a majority of the time," Quattrochi told them.
The club, once a focal point of what was historically a predominantly Polish neighborhood, currently has about 120 registered members, but only about 20 are regular patrons, according to Lavigne.
"It's untenable not to have a manager on the license," said board member Thomas Campoli.
"The Polish Community Club has a proud tradition of civic service, and we want to get this back on track as quickly as possible," said Chairman Carmen Massimiano.
Tags: license board, liquor license, private club,
