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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Thirsty Scholar, a coffee, beer and wine bar in the Penn Arts building at 111 E. 16th St., has closed.
A two-page letter addressed to “Dear Thirsty Family” and posted on the establishment’s door said, in part, “On Thursday, June 21 (just about five years after opening), we will at least temporarily close.”
The letter also refers to “a possibility that Thirsty will re-open at some unknown point in the future."
In an email response on Thursday to questions from IBJ, co-owner Kevin Schmidlin seemed to shut the door on that possibility.
"The Thirsty Scholar has been a profitable business for 5 years, both financially and spiritually; however for the current owners it is time to move on," Schmidlin wrote. "We're grateful to everyone who helped make it something special, and we look forward to the future for the near north side of Indianapolis."
He also said that he wanted to address "concerns I have seen in the media" about whether employees would be paid. "They will be paid as they regularly are this Friday in full," he said.
Thirsty Scholar opened in the summer of 2013, in a 900-square-foot space inside the Penn Arts building. The building’s owner, Christopher Piazza, teamed up with business partner Schmidlin for the project.
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