The Bavarian Inn, a North Shore landmark that has hosted countless weddings, other special events and the area's longest-running Oktoberfest will close Friday, according to sources familiar with the situation.
The sources say an agreement has been reached for the Bavarian Soccer Club to purchase the 21,000-square foot facility (which includes Old Heidelberg Park) at 700 W. Lexington Blvd. in Glendale for $1.5 million.
The Bavarian Soccer Club is one of five German-American organizations that comprised the United German Societies, which operated the facility. Soccer club president Bob Monnat did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday night.
United German Societies has struggled in recent years to keep up with rising property taxes. The city of Glendale assessed the 14-acre property at $5.836 million in 2010 with a tax burden of $143,303.79.
One of the five member clubs pulled out of the Bavarian Inn earlier this year when the facility's future looked bleak. Both the city of Glendale and the soccer club had expressed an interest in the facility, which was slated for a sheriff's sale later this month.
According to the source, employees were called into an emergency meeting Tuesday where they were told that Friday would be their last day by general manager Victor Cerda.
"There have been people that have worked there for as many as 37 years," an employee, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Tuesday night. "It seems so shady. We had a feeling that they were going to pull something like this and they did."
Best known for its Friday Fish Fry and annual Oktoberfest, the Bavarian Inn was also a popular banquet and wedding venue. The sale leaves the status of many future events hanging in the balance. There was no word on whether or not existing event contracts would be honored.
"The manager is going to have to call these brides and say 'sorry, but you can't have your wedding here'," the employee said.
Organizers of an event planned for Saturday confirmed Wednesday morning that their event will go on as scheduled.
