Carter Park — Lorenzo’s Coffee and Wine House, the latest incarnation of the cute neighborhood store at 3100 Columbia St., has bitten the dust after not quite four months. Owner Larry Patella, who opened the place in mid-June, announced on Sept. 30 that things just weren’t penciling out because he is too busy to devote himself to Lorenzo’s. The establishment closed its doors that day. Patella’s position as executive director of the Western Dredging Association “requires that I do a lot of traveling. Unfortunately, I do not now have the extra time that Lorenzo’s needs,” he wrote. “I am actively looking for that someone who can give our neighborhood hangout the time and care it deserves. It is currently for lease or sale.” He also said: “You have no idea how much I have appreciated the praise and thanks given me for restoring 3100 Columbia Street and my attempt to return this Carter Park treasure to the neighborhood. You were great.” The site has been a neighborhood grocery since as far back as 1931; in recent years, it was retooled and remodeled over and over again with names like Freedom Fruit, Your Corner Market and Marcell’s Hemp and Latte House, which was put out of business by fire in 2009. Patella, who’s owned the building since the 1980s, opened Lorenzo’s in mid-June of this year.
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