This evening, the management of Zee Bar will host a grand opening at their posh, members-only Spring Garden Street club, but it seems the surrounding neighborhood is still nursing a hangover from the troublesome previous tenant, Club Deco.

Led by Jennifer Shamy, the daughter of the owner of Delilah's, Zee Bar's new owners want to distance themselves from history with plans to cater to the tastes of a celebrity clientele and other well-heeled Philadelphians. "We're looking for young professionals," Shamy told locals during a November meeting of the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association (NLNA). "We don't want somebody just to come in and get wasted."

Despite promises of an extreme makeover, even before Zee Bar pours its first cosmopolitan, the liquor license attached to its home is in jeopardy due to violations occurring while Club Deco was operated by the PIIJ Club. Following repeated state liquor-code violations and violent incidents including the shooting murder of a patron in February 2000 and the nonlethal stabbing of R&B singer Chico DeBarge in October 2003, the state Liquor Control Board declined the mandatory biennial renewal of the liquor license in May 2005.

With that decision under appeal at the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, the license remains valid and can be used pending a final decision. Looking past tonight's event, Zee Bar's management—the Spring Garden Social Club—has been attempting to transfer another liquor license with a more certain future to the location. That process has not gone smoothly, partly because of Deco's history and partly because local groups have been trying to reduce the number of area nightclubs.

Shamy has been courting the NLNA for the past two months in an effort to win their support for the license transfer. (Though Zee Bar isn't in Northern Liberties, the association has gotten involved because the club is located just outside its southern boundary at 100 Spring Garden St.)

After they filed with the state's Liquor Control Board in October to transfer a license owned by the 44th Ward Italian American Democratic Club, city, state and local officials issued formal objections that generally trigger hearings.

"There are numerous licensed establishments already existing in this immediate area," wrote NLNA President Matt Ruben in an objection letter. "These existing establishments have proven to be detrimental to the peace, safety, welfare and morals of the neighborhood. … Granting this additional license will only further compound these problems."

Backing Ruben's stance was state Sen. Vincent Fumo, who wrote, "This office is not willing to support any new licenses without first negotiating a conditional license to protect the interests of the community."

Such objections are sometimes used to get owners to agree to place conditions on the use of their liquor license to mitigate nuisances, such as repeated violence and a need for parking. So, in the end, the opposition may prove to be nothing more than posturing on the part of officials in an effort to force the owners to agree to ensure that Zee Bar does not cause the same problems that Deco did.

Before receiving a preliminary positive recommendation from the association's zoning committee at a late-December meeting, Shamy agreed to a number of conditions. Those included putting metal detectors at a front entrance and a rear VIP entrance and having off-duty police stationed in or around the parking lot from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. (Shamy didn't return calls for comment.)

Her mother, Greta Shamy, owner of Delilah's and the strip mall that houses Delilah's and Zee Bar, also agreed to permanently retire Deco's old license if the transfer is approved, theoretically reducing the number of bars in Philadelphia that can stay open until 3 a.m. Although the license is on record as being owned by the PIIJ Club, the elder Shamy lays claim to it due to a $1 million settlement she won against the PIIJ Club when they violated their lease agreement while operating Deco.

NLNA members were slated to vote whether to offer a positive recommendation for the transfer on Tuesday night. (The outcome wasn't available before press time). Approval, it seems, would certainly improve the odds of the transfer occurring, but the future won't be certain until all the state liquor board's hearings are finalized.

The Liquor Control Board expects to schedule a hearing on the transfer "very soon," with a decision expected about eight to 10 weeks later, according to Molly McGowan, a state Liquor Control Board spokeswoman. The club will remain open during that time.