NEW ORLEANS -- City Park on Monday pushed back against a comment from Morning Call’s owner who last week said he does not believe he had a fair shot at landing a long-term lease for his beignet and coffee stand in the park’s casino building.
The park reiterated that Morning Call’s operators missed a mandatory pre-bid conference on April 27. Morning Call co-owner Bob Hennessey has said a representative from his company was “late” to the meeting, but has also acknowledged it was over by the time that person arrived.
“The bid documents are absolutely clear that there was a mandatory pre-bid meeting,” City Park said Monday in a prepared statement.
While Morning Call did submit a bid for the lease, it was later disqualified. City Park noted that its lawyers said the park cannot waive the requirement of attendance at a pre-bid conference and still accept a bid from any business that was not there.
“As a result, City Park accepted the next highest bid from Café Du Monde,” the statement reads.
City Park went on to say that park staffers noticed no one from Morning Call was at the pre-bid meeting and that they “took it upon themselves to call one of the Morning Call owners to remind them of the meeting.”
“No one from Morning Call called City Park,” the statement continues, noting that one of the owners showed up after the meeting ended. “Subsequently, Morning Call apologized in writing for missing the meeting.”
VIDEO BELOW: Waiter gets emotional as Morning Call prepares to close its doors at City Park
Last week, Hennessey said he was considering legal action against the park, claiming he did not get a fair shot since his bid was disqualified. He also said he believed Morning Call was due a letter that notified the company it was disqualified as well as a hearing on the matter.
But WWL-TV legal analyst Pauline Hardin said last week the letter and hearing are usually only done for contracts that are part of a public works project. The lease of space in City Park’s casino building does not fall under that state law, Hardin said.
The decision to award the lease to Café Du Monde now leaves the future of the nearly 150-year-old Morning Call in limbo.
Hennessey and his brother closed their Severn Avenue location in recent weeks to focus on the City Park store. They said business had dropped in Metairie while it was booming in the park, where they have been in operation since 2012.
Hennessey last week told WWL-TV he is looking for another location for Morning Call and has met with some real estate agents but declined to provide any details.