Ben Stanley
Staff writerPosted Nov. 11, 2015 at 2:15 PM
Updated Nov 11, 2015 at 8:47 PMBELVIDERE — Plans for an upscale tap room on Belvidere’s east side have hit the skids.The proposed bar, Belvidere on Tap, would have been the latest venture of bar owners Nick Fosberg and Derrick Kunz, who co-own Rural on Tap in Rockford’s eastside Rural Oaks neighborhood.“It was going to cost more than we were able to raise capital for,” Kunz said.Kunz and Fosberg submitted a proposal for Belvidere on Tap to the Belvidere-Boone County Planning Department in April. Plans included serving craft, imported and domestic beers, wine and mixed drinks along with 10 to 15 "high quality" food items. They also considered installing a small stage for karaoke and live shows.The bar was to open this fall in the long-vacant portion of a strip mall on the southeast corner of Belvidere Road and Logan Avenue. A dental office, cell phone store and a gold trade-in establishment are the other tenants of the strip mall are.At the time of the proposal, the idea of adding an upscale entertainment-based business in Belvidere was met with enthusiasm from Belvidere-Boone County Associate Planning Director Gina Delrose.“The restaurant and bar will add a much-needed entertainment-focused business to the east side of town," Delrose wrote in an advisory report on May 4. "Currently, there are no sit-down food establishments in that vicinity."Fosberg said the venture was too risky financially and instead, the pair are hoping to find a different space in Rockford. For example, Fosberg made an unsuccessful bid in August to operate a business at the former Kiwi Cafe at 211 Elm St., kitty-corner to the BMO Harris Bank Center.“For the amount of money we were going to spend, it wasn't worth going out that far,” Fosberg said of Belvidere on Tap. “We're looking for something else in town we can buy, so we don't have to deal with landlords. We're hoping that within six months we can find something.”
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