Marblehead’s Maddie’s may have savior

MARBLEHEAD – Loretta Lang, the Michigan native who wants to be the next owner of Maddie’s Sail Loft, told selectmen Wednesday she “lives and breathes restaurants” – and for those concerned about the bar’s 2007 license suspension record, she said “I’ve been a high school teacher too so I have lots of experience disciplining people.”In answering board members’ questions Lang said she would be on duty the whole time the bar is open and planned to hold a special retraining session on responsible liquor service once Maddie’s reopens.Selectmen approved the necessary license transfers unanimously, 3-0. Selectmen Chairman Harry Christensen and Selectmen Judy Jacobi and William Woodfin were present and voting. Selectmen Jackie Belf-Becker and James Nye were absent.Lang said she plans to make her presence known at the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission offices to expedite the ABCC approval that she will need to reopen.She wants to open those doors on Memorial Day weekend, the start of summer and the sailing season. Maddie’s has traditionally been known as a great sailing bar.”There’s keen interest in seeing Maddie’s reopen,” said Attorney John Tangusso, who appeared before the board as the owner. Neither Lang nor Tangusso stated a sales figure.Tangusso told selectmen he made the decision to seek a new owner last July, 16 months after he owned it, when a series of incidents prompted suspensions and a fine.”I made the decision that this institution would be best served by the ownership of someone else,” he said. “I began quietly marketing the place.”He called Lang “a good fit” for Maddie’s and said when she saw the place with its historic atmosphere she “lit up like a Christmas tree.”Lang told the board she has held every job imaginable at a restaurant/bar, and currently is employed as an accountant at Number 9 Park in Boston. In Michigan her father owned several bars and restaurants and two of her brothers own bars. She said she has been looking for a place of her own for the past six years.”I’m so excited I keep pinching myself,” she said. “Maddie’s is such a great place.”