The bar staff at Hawthorne stalwart Sewick's was notified last Sunday, Jan. 31, that the building had been sold to Urban Development Group, a property development organization, and will eventually be demolished to make way for a proposed apartment complex conversion of the area.
The last day for Sewick's will be Feb. 29.
Sewick's is an abominable, down-home dive known for cheap beverages and early-morning operation hours, with pool tables on the rear of an islanded bar. It is additionally known tenderly for its simple bartenders, a hefty portion of whom have been around for a considerable length of time, through its incarnation as Sewickley Addition.
The Sewick's building and bar are both owned by a single individual, April Kramer, under the name Darek Properties LLC.
The new proprietors, Urban Development Group, are controlled by Beaverton's Dennis Sackhoff - father to Battlestar Galactica actress Katie Sackhoff and the same developer of the property that once held Starky's.
Likewise with Starky's, UDG has documented its aims to construct a 46-unit, multi-purpose apartment building. There will be 2,700 square feet of business space on the ground floor of the building.
"This is a 100-year-old building," said the bartender we reached by telephone. "There's stuff here that's been here a long time. I've been told there's a table downstairs with a newspaper that goes back to 1919."
After the bar closes, staff members say, they will go about selling the antique stuff inside the old building.
Sewick's has not reported the closing so far.
