The city planning commission unanimously approved a use permit
last week for The Broken Wing Club, a bar and lounge that will
occupy the long-vacant Union Bank building on the southwest corner
of Fifth and San Benito streets downtown.
Hollister – The city planning commission unanimously approved a use permit last week for The Broken Wing Club, a bar and lounge that will occupy the long-vacant Union Bank building on the southwest corner of Fifth and San Benito streets downtown.
“We need some entertainment. We need some attraction to get people downtown,” said planning commissioner David Huboi.
Huboi also believes that attracting more people downtown in the evenings will give shops a reason to stay open later.
Hollister Downtown Association Executive Director Brenda Weatherly said that’s a possibility.
“The more kinds of places we have like this that generate traffic downtown and pull people downtown, there’s more possibility for the stores to stay open longer,” she said.
The Broken Wing Club will not have a full bar, but will serve beer, wine, coffee and other non-alcoholic drinks. It will feature live music on Friday and Saturday nights – and on weeknights if there is a demand – a dance floor, dart boards and a pool table. The bar will be open Monday through Saturday from noon to 2am, and from noon to 10pm on Sundays.
Larry and Julia Otis, who will run The Broken Wing Club, could not be contacted by press time, and the bar’s opening date could not be determined.
Huboi also hopes such a venue will encourage the arts.
“I’d like to see Hollister be known for something more than the fourth of July rally,” he said. “Hollister should be known for its arts.”
Other downtown bars, such as Johnny’s and Whiskey Gulch, also feature live music.
