Patrons have been guessing and rumors have been swirling since The Barn, a popular Carney live music venue, crab house and bar, closed its doors Sunday night and hung signs that said simply "closed until further notice."
Now one co-owner of the Harford Road restaurant has told Patch that financial mismangement on the part of a partner left The Barn LLC in terrible shape.
Paul Wisner, one of the operating partners who relaunched the bar in 2005, said that the closure wasn't a matter of a bad economy or slow business.
"It was never a matter of not having the customers—it was a matter of sheer mismanagement over a year or 16 months," Wisner said.
Wisner became involved as an operating partner in The Barn when the restaurant relaunched in 2005 and remained on in that capacity until 2007 when he became and investment partner, and later in 2009 a creditor to the bar.
"About a year ago, I guess, one of the operating partners got burnt out—he stopped caring, the employees weren't happy," Wisner said. "About 90 days go I went back in and tried to figure this out."
Wisner explained that the partner responsible for the mismanagement of The Barn has since been asked to leave, but that the LLC for the restaurant was in terrible shape.
"I'm looking to get a new investor who can come in and help us restructure, remodel and reopen," Wisner said.
He explained he'd like to renovate both the up and the downstairs areas, and potentially work out a new menu.
"My ideal timeline to do all that would be about a month," Wisner said. "Someone could come back in here and probably open the place back up in about three days, but to get done what I want to get done it should take a month."
So far, Wisner said he's talked to at least six parties interested in The Barn but that nothing concrete is in place yet.
"I would think that there will still be live music, we'll still do crabs," Wisner said.
He said that patrons of The Barn should continue to watch the Facebook page, which he manages and where he will publish updates as he has them.
Were you a regular at The Barn? Were you sad to see it close? What do you think could be done better when the restaurant reopens? Tell us in the comments.
