HAMBURG, N.Y. — There's a battle brewing over a mural on the side of a new wine bar in Hamburg and a fence that will soon block the view of it.
Alchemy Wine and Beer paid to have a mural painted on the side of its building. It has become a bit of an attraction since it was completed earlier this month.
Just a couple of weeks ago, the owners of the John and Mary's restaurant next door told Alchemy's owners that they were going to install a wooden fence.
2 On Your Side reached out to the John and Mary's owners several times and didn't hear back, but Alchemy co-owner Anne McIntosh said the owners told her they are putting up a fence to keep people out and avoid possible liabilities if someone — perhaps intoxicated — was to walk on and fall on their property.
McIntosh knows the other owners are well within their rights to erect a fence, but she was hoping to come up with a solution that would benefit both properties. She said she offered to pay for a different type of fence or landscaping that would keep people off the property but still allow people to view the mural.
McIntosh said if she had any idea the other owners were going to put up a fence, they would've painted the mural on a different side of the building. She said she went through the town to have the mural approved before it was painted, and there was never any mention of a fence until recently after it was too late.