The not-so-smiley Skull

After 30 years of providing the Athens and motorcycle community with a place to share a drink or listen to local live music, the Smiling Skull Saloon is closing.

According to the Ohio Department of Commerce Liquor Control Division’s web database, brother and sister co-owners Adrianne Whitley and Locke Wolf received a $10,000 fine on September 9th. The fine was ordered to be paid by September 28th. The exact reason for the fine is unknown as representatives from the Smiling Skull Saloon have not responded to The New Political’s request for comment. 

Athens News reported that a check to pay the fine in full was next-day mailed by Whitley and Wolf on September 22nd. 

However, the check was not received by Liquor Control until October 3rd resulting in the Smiling Skull Saloon losing its liquor license and being mandated to stop all forms of business. 

Whitley and Wolf are currently working on an appeal, as reported by Athens News. 

Quintin Rock, a junior at Ohio University, gave his take on the closing of the bar, “It makes me really sad to see it boarded up and closed right now. The live music and atmosphere of the bar is a completely different vibe compared to other places in Athens. I hope the appeal process works out for them since this sounds like just a big misunderstanding.”