Salvatore Costanzo seeks to reopen Arcata's Sidelines Sports Bar

Sidelines Sports Bar, one of Arcata Plaza’s most infamous addresses, was back in play as Salvatore Costanzo moved to reopen the long-shuttered bar at 732 9th Street. The former nightlife spot had sat in a different role for years, turning into a Miranda’s Rescue thrift shop in 2021 after about two and a half years of vacancy.

The reopening push carried the weight of a painful history. The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control revoked the licenses for Sidelines and Toby & Jack’s, two Costanzo-owned Plaza tavern-row bars, after administrative hearings and multiple appeals that began in late 2018. ABC said the licenses were revoked for illegal narcotics transactions, and it posted notices of revocation on May 15, 2020. In the case before the appeals board, an administrative law judge recommended revocation in November 2018, and records say an undercover agent visited Sidelines four times over four months while documenting numerous narcotics discussions. The Arcata Police Department investigation that helped drive the case found employees and patrons selling drugs out of the establishments, and nine patrons plus three employees were arrested. Costanzo and his son Michael said at the time they did not know about the activity.

Now, Costanzo was reportedly hoping to refurbish the building and reopen it if the ABC process worked out and he could acquire a license from Louie’s in Glendale. That made the question bigger than one bar comeback. Toby & Jack’s sits at 764 9th Street, two businesses away from Sidelines, so any return of drinking and late-night traffic would land directly in the middle of a corridor that has already lived through the consequences of weak oversight.

Arcata’s own planning language suggested why the idea was no longer being treated as dead on arrival. The city’s Planning Division says it supports projects that help revitalize Arcata and prepare it for future growth, while the Planning Commission serves in an advisory role on physical development. At the same time, a 2020 Plaza Improvement Task Force report shows the city was already wrestling with alcohol-related issues, harassment, vandalism and neighborhood safety. That left Sidelines as more than a vacant storefront: it was a test of how much risk Arcata was willing to tolerate as it reconsidered the future of Plaza and Tavern Row.