She said she originally asked Apex-based Concordia Building Company to lead the building effort in the fall. Since then, she said she has engaged Wakefield Associates, a commercial real estate development company, to oversee construction.
“We’ve had to go back and forth on construction,” she said. “ Do you raise $2 million or do you raise $1 million?”
“That’s been the holdup. We’re all in agreement as to what we’re doing and what those numbers need to be.”
Representatives from both firms declined to comment on construction progress.
Fountain said renovations to the Rathskeller, located below Franklin Street across from Bandido’s Mexican Cafe, include raising the ceiling and upgrading plumbing and electricity systems, in addition to outfitting the kitchen and bar.
Fountain said the project’s total construction budget is now $541,000. She said she also plans to raise money for reserves.
“Sometimes you don’t know what you’re going to find when you get in there,” Fountain said. “It’s a bear, an absolute bear.”
Previous ventures
Fountain is listed as the registered agent for 10 different entities — most based in Wilmington — that have submitted creation filings to the secretary of state.
Five of those organizations were administratively dissolved by the state after the enterprises failed to file timely annual reports. These include her two namesake businesses, Fountain Productions Inc. and Fountain Development Inc., which were dissolved in August and September, respectively.
Fountain said some of the ventures were linked with projects that no longer needed to be kept up, while others she abandoned to come work on the Rathskeller.
One of her ventures, Charities Unlimited Inc., was suspended at the direction of the N.C. Department of Revenue in 2004 for failure to comply with requirements, according to secretary of state records.
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Three other organizations are nonprofits, which are not required to file annual reports with the secretary of state.
Fountain said she has several businesses, most for charitable purposes, and works with a real estate company, but she is directing her attention to re-opening the Rathskeller.
“I realized that I needed to devote all of my attention to it,” she said. “It’s different when you become personally interested in it.
“You don’t sleep.”
The creation filing for Rathskeller Partners LLC — for which Fountain is listed as the registered agent — was filed in October with the secretary of state. William Mann, a real estate attorney with the Raleigh-based firm Ragsdale Liggett, signed as organizer.
Fountain said she and her attorney are now in the process of recruiting partners and are finalizing paperwork.
“We’re naming some of the booths after them,” she said. “Some of them don’t want to be named.
“I’m real pleased with the people that are coming on board.”
Calls and e-mail to Mann were unreturned as of Thursday evening.
Mary Stockwell, the managing partner with Munch Family Properties that owns the Rathskeller space, said the lease has been signed, and Fountain is still working to complete her funding package.
The 37-page lease, which Fountain hired an attorney to help with, includes an option for Rathskeller Partners to purchase the space in the future, Fountain said.
Fountain attributed the lease length to the significant improvements her group is making to the property.
Legal disputes
From 1997 to 2004, Fountain was involved in at least 14 civil disputes in which plaintiffs claimed she owed money, according to records from the New Hanover County Clerk of Court’s office.
The revenue department also filed two separate complaints of taxes owed against Fountain. Fountain still owes more than $8,600 in tax liability, according to judgments filed with New Hanover County Clerk of Court.
The Rathskeller closed in 2008 after the owner failed to pay his taxes, according to Fountain and news reports at the time.
When asked about her liability, Fountain said, “I’ve been through more than you want to know.”
Plaintiffs in the civil disputes include a collision center, a moving and storage company, a dentist and a kennel — MeadowSweet.
Steven Donatone, who formerly owned MeadowSweet, said Fountain boarded her dogs with the kennel but could not pay for them.
“What we did as a service to her was agree to release the dogs back to her with her signing a promissory note to pay the amount,” he said.
When Fountain still didn’t pay, the kennel’s owners took her to small claims court and won the judgement, but they didn’t get their money.
“She apparently knew the system well because she was able to demonstrate that she couldn’t have paid,” Donatone said. “The matter just hung around for a couple of years, but we never let it go.”
Donatone said he eventually received a call from an attorney trying to absolve Fountain’s debts. He accepted a payment of $3,710 from Fountain, although it wasn’t the full amount he had asked for.
“It was less than what was owed, but it was enough money,” Donatone said. “Everyone deserves a second chance.”
Fountain said her debts were the result of a divorce and difficulties in raising three children.
“Any problems I had were a result of that,” she said.
She said her legal issues have been resolved and will not affect the Rathskeller’s re-opening, which she said she is doing as a service to Chapel Hill and the University.
“If I don’t open the Rathskeller, I don’t know who will,” she said. “You have no idea how hard I work.”
Contact the City Editor at city@dailytarheel.com.
