BOISE, Idaho — A common core of old friends packed a sequestered lot hidden somewhere in western downtown Boise between a tree line and the interstate to cheers one last time.
The Symposion - a family-owned bar since 1975 - sang its swan song Saturday with the typical gaggle of bar flies. The business is closed for good after Saturday night's last call, according to owner Chris Leverenz.
Leverenz's mother inherited the businesses five years ago after the original owner - Leverenz's uncle - passed away.
"We had to split his state with my cousins, and so we had to sell the property and [liquor] license to get them their half," Leverenz said. "The people who own the license aren't gonna lease it to us anymore."
The bar could legally still sell beer and wine without a liquor license, but that's not enough to make ends meet.
"That won't do it here. Beer and wine, that won't do it," Leverenz said. "'I'm kind of sad it's gone away. Shouldn't go away, but it is."
The Idaho Legislature passed Senate Bill 1120 during the 2023 legislative session to restrict the transferability of liquor licenses throughout the state after July 1, 2023. Gov. Brad Little signed the bill into law.
Previously, liquor licenses could be sold from one person to another. The supply and demand of a license had them selling for premium prices. Downtown Boise club owner Ted Challenger paid $350,000 for a liquor license he uses at Club Karma.
After the new law kicks in on July 1, a liquor license can only be sold one more time.
Current licenses under lease can continue through the leasing contract dates specified; however, after the lease period ends, the license returns to the owner and cannot be leased further. Any license administered by the state after July 1 cannot be resold or leased at all.
Under current Idaho law, each city has two liquor licenses, plus an additional license per 1,500 residents. The waitlist to receive a license from the state is long, according to Challenger. Some people wait a decade before they reach the front of the line.
The state runs a quota system to comply with Article III Section XXIV of the Idaho State Constitution, which states lawmakers should "further all wise and well directed efforts for the promotion of temperance."
These exemptions - allowing current license owners to resell one more time and finish their currently existing lease period - exist to allow current license holders a chance to receive back the funds they already invested into the license, bill sponsor Sen. Jim Guthrie (R-McCammon) told KTVB in March.
The Symposion property is owned by Atlanta-based developer Greenstone Properties, according to Leverenz. He does not know exactly what the company plans to do with that land.
"You come in here, it's like you're home," Leverenz said. "The one thing I'd want people to remember [about Symposion] is it's a friendly place."
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