LOVES PARK — Four months after losing its lease in downtown Rockford, a restaurant and bar business is preparing to relocate to the north.

True Colors Bar & Grill plans to open this spring at 7784 Forest Hills Road in Loves Park.

A banner with the restaurant’s name and logo is affixed to the front of the building, which is owned by Capital Development LLC of Madison, Wisconsin.

The business, which previously billed itself as Rockford’s “newest gay bar" when it operated at 211 Elm St., is moving into the former home of Gia’s Live Music Club, which closed in 2011.

True Colors owner John Slater was not immediately available for comment.

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The prospect of a long-vacant commercial building being occupied again is exciting news, according to Loves Park Mayor Greg Jury.

“The building is going to be brought up to code, and it’s going to be an active business,” Jury said. “It’s going to help entice more people to come into the city of Loves Park and obviously we survive on sales taxes, so that’s good for us and I hope everything works out for them.”

The restaurant’s application for a liquor license is pending, Jury said.

True Colors’ menu features burgers, chicken sandwiches, flatbread pizzas and a variety of appetizers.

Guest deejays will be brought in for entertainment, according to the restaurant’s Facebook page.

True Colors opened in September 2020 on the ground floor of the South Wyman Street parking garage, which is owned by the city of Rockford.

The city terminated its lease with the business in November after city officials said the bar fell months behind on food and beverage tax payments and did not have a required state liquor license.

Ken DeCoster: kdecoster@rrstar.com; @DeCosterKen

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Former Rockford restaurant and bar True Colors relocates to Loves Park