A banner hung from the side of 1028 Broadway in Fountain Hill announces that Game Time–a sports bar with a troubled local police history that closed last summer–will be “reopening under new management.”

Note: This story has been corrected to reflect the fact that the next Fountain Hill Borough Council meeting will be held Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m.

Just weeks after local media outlets reported that a former Fountain Hill sports bar will soon reopen as a two-level Italian restaurant, there are doubts about whether that is going to happen.

Questions about the property began circulating in local Facebook groups on Wednesday, after banners appeared announcing that the sports bar–Game Time–would be “reopening under new management.”

The large banners are currently displayed on two sides of the business, which is located at 1028 Broadway. They also state that the business will be BYOB and will be open from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Opened in 2021, Game Time Sports Bar & Grille closed last summer, after borough police said they had responded to hundreds of alcohol, drug and gun-related incidents there. Fountain Hill Police Chief Ed Bachert said littering and public urination that occurred around the establishment were also issues.

“It was a nuisance bar,” Bachert said last August. He noted that a hearing concerning the bar’s liquor license was scheduled due to complaints about Game Time that had been filed with the state’s Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement. It was unclear what the outcome of that hearing was, or if it was ever held.

At the time of its closure, Game Time owner Wendy Lorrah stated in a Facebook post that “the town in which Gametime was located did not want the bar there because the clientele was not to their liking.”

“We were prepared to fight for our rights, but the landlord was not,” she added.

At the time, Bachert refuted that assertion.

““We want to see every business that comes here succeed,” he said last summer. “It wasn’t Fountain Hill that was involved in trying to get rid of them.”

As of Thursday, it was unclear who hung the banners and who was referenced as “new management.”

Both Bachert and Fountain Hill Borough Manager Amy Burkhart said Thursday that they were unaware of any changes to the well-publicized plans to open an Italian restaurant where Game Time was located.

Channel 69 News reported earlier this month that the Sgroi family, which previously operated Nonna Sulina’s Sicilian Kitchen & Grill in Hanover Township, Northampton County, was putting the finishing touches on their new Fountain Hill restaurant, Tinto.

Giacomo Sgroi told the news station that they expected Tinto to open in late January or early February and that it might open as a BYOB establishment if its liquor license wasn’t received by then.

Saucon Source contacted the Sgrois via the Nonna Sulina’s Facebook page Thursday to ask if their plans to open Tinto had changed, but as of Thursday evening had not received a response.

Local business developments are often a topic of discussion at Fountain Hill Borough Council meetings, and it is possible the uncertainty regarding the plans for 1028 Broadweay will be discussed at the next one, which will be held Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. at Borough Hall, 941 Long St., Fountain Hill. Meetings are open to the public and are also livestreamed via the borough’s Facebook page. Meeting agendas and other information may be found on the borough’s website.