The owners of Time Out Lounge are beginning anew in their search for a new location for the bar, which was displaced when a December fire destroyed the Old Hammond Highway location that the bar had called home for seven years. On Wednesday evening, the Metro Council voted 8-2 to reject a rezoning request that would have allowed Kathleen and Jerome Byers to reopen the Time Out Lounge at 3180 Valley St., just off Perkins Road, behind the Bin Q liquor store. “We really weren’t surprised because we went into the meeting knowing we were pretty much defeated,” Kathleen Byers says this morning. The Southside Civic Association opposed the rezoning request, with representatives telling the council they don’t want to see the addition of any bars in the area. Also, on Monday evening, the Planning Commission had voted unanimously to reject the request. The Byers had hoped to reopen in the new location in time for the start of the LSU football season, which kicks off Saturday, Aug. 30. “Obviously, that’s not going to happen,” Byers says. “But through all of this controversy, I have received a couple of phone calls from people telling me that they have some possible locations they’d like us to look at. So, we’re back to the drawing board and we’re open to any suggestions people have.” —Steve Sanoski
Today’s poll question: Do you agree with the Metro Council’s decision to reject a rezoning request that would have allowed the Time Out Lounge to reopen just off Perkins Road, at 3180 Valley St.?
