DOVER — The rumors are true. RJ's Bar and Grill did close and the Barley Pub is moving into their space to expand their business.



Scott Mason, the owner of Barley Pub, filled out a permit application to begin renovations at 83 Washington Street, the former address of RJ's Bar and Grill. Tom Clark, Dover's Building Official, met with a contractor on August 17 at this location. More specifics and details of the move and remodeling will come within the next few weeks.



RJ's closed because they could not take the harassment from the police department any longer, according to James Kenny of Sarnia Properties, who owns the building in downtown Dover.



"They blamed anything that happened in Dover on RJ's," said Kenny. "If things happened within one-hundred yards of the pub, they still blamed it on RJ's."



Captain Bill Breault of Dover Police Department said Chief Anthony Colarusso made a mandate to have RJ's hire detail officers on certain nights of the week starting last fall to try to lessen the issues at the bar. The owners, Rory Penrod and Jack Henderson, were ordered to pay the city in advance for a detail officer to renew their entertainment license each week.



Kenny said the bar met with police on numerous occasions, making improvements on the establishment and cooperated with new rules. They stopped serving alcohol after a specific time and rejected people who were too intoxicated at the door.



Last November, Foster's Daily Democrat's Andrea Bulfinch reported that RJ's was involved in many incidents where the police were involved including issues with drug use, assault, theft and even an officer being attacked outside the bar.



Colarusso doesn't expect these types of problems to continue at 83 Washington Street in the future. "The Barley Pub's present location is well run and I am happy to see it expanding," said Colarusso. He suspects the pub to continue to run just like it has, just in a new location.



According to Kenny, Mason is working to bring more food to the pub and expand the menu. He will begin renovating on the first of September and hopes to open by Thanksgiving. With time, Kenny said Mason would like to begin a microbrewery.