WORCESTER—One of the city’s oldest bars is poised to reopen after city license commissioners granted both an on-premises all-alcohol license and a common victualer license to the owner.
The permits for Guertin’s Cafe at 139 Grand St. were granted to Theodore Dimopoulos, who intends to reopen the bar as a “nice place to hang in the neighborhood.”
The bar is believed to have originally opened in 1918 and is not far from Polar Park.
While commissioners gave permission for Guertin’s to open from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily, Dimopoulos said he won’t likely stay open into the wee hours of the morning unless the establishment becomes popular enough to support the expanded hours.
While he plans to apply for an entertainment license in the future for televisions, radios, or jukeboxes, Dimopoulos said he is mindful of the need to be a good neighbor.
The comment came after Kevin Ramirez of the nearby Centro Cristiano Betesda church expressed concern about any bars opening in the area.
Ramirez said the church has been hit by a car, shot at with bullets penetrating the walls, and not long ago a person was killed in a building nearby.
He said the safety of church-goers is a concern.
But license commissioners noted that Guertin’s has been closed for several years, shutting its doors at around the start of the pandemic, and that the problems weren’t likely related to the bar.
Ramirez agreed that the issues at the church, which has been in existence since 1990, weren’t related to the bar but he worried about the effects of introducing a drinking establishment back into the neighborhood.
Commissioner Maritza Cruz said she understood the concern but also suggested that a neighborhood group like those in other areas of the city might help residents tackle the problems and perhaps Dimopoulos might be part of such an effort.
There was also a hope that the added traffic of the business might help the neighborhood.
Commissioner Charran Fisher echoed fellow commissioners.
“It’s unfortunate that people think bars are going to bring more violence but that’s not the case,” she said.
Anthony Vigliotti, chairman of the license commission, said if there are problems at the bar and commissioners are made aware, they will be addressed.
The license must now receive state approval before the bar can open.
Kim Ring fell into journalism in the 1980s as a correspondent at the Telegram & Gazette and eventually left her initial career to pursue reporting full-time. In her years of writing, she has penned articles for several Massachusetts-based publications, taking a brief hiatus to work as chief of staff for a state representative. She can be reached at Kimringwrites@gmail.com
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