Things Perq up for historic bar

Jenny Marder

To some, Perqs is a seedy, prehistoric dive bar that detracts from

the upscale image that city officials are working to promote

Downtown.

But for Babette Comee, Perqs is a haven, homey and unpretentious,

the essence of Surf City history.

A former brothel, local hangout and home to legendary blues

guitarist Walter Trout, Perqs bar at 117 Main St. is the oldest bar

in Huntington Beach. So old that owners aren’t required to serve food

with alcohol, as they are in every other bar Downtown.

The historic hangout just got a $1.5-million settlement from the

city redevelopment agency, ending nearly a decade of litigation.

Owner Gary Mulligan filed a lawsuit against the city redevelopment

agency in 1984, alleging that the city’s plans for Downtown

redevelopment were stifling business and preventing him from

improving his property.

“They wanted to take our property, buy it real cheap and make it

part of the CIM development,” Mulligan said.

City officials insisted that this was never their intent.

“We had not filed any notice of intent to condemn the property,

and we did not stifle their plans for development,” City Atty.

Jennifer McGrath said.

The redevelopment agency at one time had a partnership with Perqs,

but the partnership dissolved when Main Street properties were

excluded from redevelopment plans, said David Biggs, the city’s

director of economic development. The city felt it was being

facilitative, but Perqs’ owners saw it otherwise.

“That’s what litigation’s all about: Different people have

different perspectives,” Biggs said

Perqs sued the city because it was being prevented from realizing

the full value of its property, said Perqs’ attorney, Ronald

Colesaid.

“We were tied up for about 15 years without enjoying the property

rights that are normally enjoyed by a private property owner,” Cole

said. “The city held a cloud over that property.”

Perqs’ building was built in 1904, and traces of its century-old

heritage remain. Originally dubbed Gospel Swamp after the settlement

itself, Perqs still has the original brick walls and long wooden bar

of its pre-World War I heritage.

In the 1930s and 1940s, the building was the site of a brothel.

Mulligan and co-owner Loren Johnson took over in 1974.

Recently, much of the building has gotten a face-lift and been

upgraded to meet earthquake standards.

At happy hour, Perqs begins filling up with its regular clientele,

a flannel and leather-clad bunch, quick to praise the bartender and

to tease one another. Absent are the designer clothes and pop-culture

crowds that other Downtown bars attract.

“It’s a good, old-fashioned, rock ‘n’ roll place, full of old

hippies and surfers,” Comee said.

The customers are older but diverse, she said, some homeless, some

millionaires, some gay and some straight.

Ceiling beams sport holiday lights and American flags. A dusty

cigarette machine sits in the corner across from a couple empty kegs.

REO Speedwagon blares through the speakers.

“It’s a nice ambience,” Mulligan said. “It’s homey, so all the

locals hang out here. They just think it’s their bar.”

Bartenders know everyone by name and drink. By the time Comee sat

down Monday night, her Miller Genuine Draft was already poured and

waiting for her.

“It’s a cool bar where everyone can just be themselves,” said Don

Crowe, 46. Crowe has been coming to Perqs since the mid-1970s.

For Crowe, Comee and other regulars, losing Perqs wouldn’t just

have meant losing a bar, it would mean losing a tight community, a

home away from home.

“Everyone needs a good saloon,” Crowe said.

* JENNY MARDER covers

City Hall. Reach her at (714) 965-7173.