Nov. 3—Allegheny College now has its own state-issued liquor license to sell alcohol, but the college still is determining how it will use it, according to an Allegheny spokeswoman.

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) approved the transfer of a restaurant liquor license for Allegheny College on Aug. 29, according to PLCB records.

According to Allegheny College's PLCB application dated July 12, 2022, the college purchased the restaurant liquor license from the former Mad Hatters Southwest Grill LLC, 272 1/2 Chestnut St., Meadville, for $130,000 and requested the transfer.

The Meadville Tribune obtained a copy of the license application through a Right-to-Know Request with the board.

Since the license was a transfer between entities within the same municipality, no public hearing was required under PLCB regulations.

Earlier this year, Meadville City Council members unanimously voted down a request by Allegheny to transfer a restaurant liquor license from West Mead Township into the city.

Under PLCB regulations when a liquor license would be transferred from one municipality to another, the new host municipal government must hold a public hearing and approve the transfer before the board acts on the application.

On May 4, City Council members voted 5-0 to deny Allegheny's proposed transfer of the state-issued liquor license held by Yukon Ron's Bar & Grill Inc. The current licensed location is the now-closed Bootlegger's Lounge, 356 Baldwin St., in West Mead Township. At a public hearing April 21, both residents adjacent to the college and downtown business owners cited potential safety concerns and business competition.

Transferring the West Mead liquor license to Allegheny would have allowed the college to promote student community, school officials said at the time. Allegheny also wanted to use the license to promote responsible socializing and alcohol consumption between students, faculty and guests, officials said.

After the transfer was denied in May, Allegheny indicated it would look at options including pursuing a city-based license so it wouldn't have to rely on a third-party vendor or its food service provider.

Allegheny's liquor license has the address of its Henderson Campus Center, located between North Main Street and Highland Avenue. The campus center also houses McKinley's Food Court.

Formal public notification of the proposed transfer was posted on the PLCB-required fluorescent orange placard and placed on the window of the campus center as required under state regulations.

"It is the address for the license, but we're still determining next steps," Ellen Johnson, Allegheny's vice president for enrollment management, said Wednesday. "The first step was the purchase and obtaining the license."

The college actually hasn't used its own liquor license yet at Henderson or anywhere else, she said.

At home games during the recent football season, Allegheny had its tailgate spot at Robertson Field selling alcohol, but those sales were under Aramark's liquor license, Johnson said. Aramark is the school's food and beverage company.

"Our long-term goal is to use our license, but we've not finalized plans," she said. "We're kind of determining next steps what that would look like on campus."

The college is studying what changes to make, if any, to McKinley's and or the Henderson Campus Center with its own license then to be active in the 2023-24 academic year.

"We want options for students on campus in addition to still encouraging them to support businesses in the local community as well," Johnson said.

Johnson said the college has no plans to allow alcohol sales to be taken off-site of the campus center.

As far as policing potential underage drinking by students, "The college would assume responsibility under our license," she noted.

Meadville Police Department Chief Michael Tautin told The Meadville Tribune that, to his knowledge, the department had not received any notification from Allegheny that it had obtained a liquor license.

"We've not had to respond up there to a lot parties because students live on campus now," Tautin said of potential underage drinking. "Those students who do live off campus, we've not had issues that I'm aware of to any great extent."

Meadville Mayor Jaime Kinder said she had received contact from Allegheny this summer about the propose license transfer.

Johnson said that in July the college did share the transfer with its campus community — faculty, staff and students.

Asked if residential neighbors to campus were informed of the transfer, Johnson said they were not.

"We did not send anything out," she said. "But part of the reason we elected Henderson as the address and location is that it's more central on campus and away from the edge of campus that would abut any neighbors."

Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.