IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa City’s Police and Housing and Inspection Services departments are recommending the Piano Lounge lose its liquor license.

Police Chief Sam Hargadine, in a memorandum dated Dec. 20 and released Thursday, said Chad Freeman, one of the bar’s three owners, lacked the good moral character required by state law for a liquor license. The Piano Lounge is at 217 Iowa Ave.

Hargadine said Freeman pleaded guilty to fourth-degree theft in Linn County District Court earlier this year for passing a bad check and failing to resolve the matter. He also said Freeman owns Freeman Construction and owes the city more than $46,000 in “long overdue” landfill fees.

The Police Department has been unable to contact Freeman, Hargadine wrote. A phone message left for Freeman by KCRG-TV9 was not immediately returned.

Housing and Inspection Services is recommending denial because the Piano Lounge failed, after repeated requests, to submit a required statement on the establishment’s hours of operation, said Jann Ream, Iowa City’s code enforcement assistant.

The City Council is scheduled to vote Jan. 10 on the Piano Lounge’s liquor license renewal application.

Any decision by the council can be appealed to the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division, and the establishment can continue selling alcohol in the meantime.

Also Jan. 10, the City Council will consider a request for a liquor license from Alan Eckhardt, who has managed downtown Iowa City bars, for an establishment called Bricks Sports Grill in the former Fieldhouse spot at 113 E. College St., City Clerk Marian Karr said.

City staff are recommending approval.

The Fieldhouse closed its doors New Year’s Eve and will move into Slippery Pete’s, 118 S. Dubuque St., according to the Iowa City Press-Citizen.

Dave Carey owns the Fieldhouse and is co-owner of Slippery Pete’s. Carey and one of his partners did not immediately return phone messages from SourceMedia Group Thursday.

In July, just weeks after Iowa City’s 21-only law took effect, Carey told KCRG-TV9 that Fieldhouse revenues had already dropped sharply and he was hoping to hang on until football season, a traditionally busy time for Iowa City bars.

The law prevents people younger than 21 from being in Iowa City bars after 10 p.m. The Fieldhouse admitted people younger than 21 before the new law took effect.

Bar owners have predicted several establishments could soon be closed, and since the November election, when voters upheld the law, 808 Restaurant & Nightclub, Firewater Saloon, One-Eyed Jake’s and Vito’s have closed their doors, although some of those bars were experiencing difficulties before the 21-only law.

The Fieldhouse is one of downtown Iowa City’s biggest and best-known bars. It has a capacity of 420, compared with 178 for Slippery Pete’s.