Former True Colors restaurant and bar in Rockford is moving to Loves Park

LOVES PARK — Four months after losing its lease in downtown Rockford, a restaurant and bar are preparing to move up north.

True Colors Bar & Grill plans to open this spring at 7784 Forest Hills Road in Loves Park.

A banner with the restaurant’s name and logo hangs from the front of the building, which is owned by Capital Development LLC of Madison, Wisconsin.

The business, which previously billed itself as Rockford’s “new gay bar” when it operated at 211 Elm St., is moving into the former home of Gia’s Live Music Club, which closed in 2011.

True Colors owner John Slater was not immediately available for comment.

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According to Loves Park Mayor Greg Jury, the prospect of a long-vacant commercial building being occupied again is great news.

“The building is going to be brought up to code, and it’s going to be an active business,” Jury said. “It’s going to help get more people to come to the town of Loves Park and obviously we’re surviving on sales tax so it’s good for us and hopefully for them.”

The restaurant’s liquor license application is pending, Jury said.

The menu at True Colors offers burgers, chicken sandwiches, flatbread pizzas and a variety of entrees.

Guest DJs will be brought in for the entertainment, according to the restaurant’s Facebook page.

True Colors opened in September 2020 on the ground floor of the South Wyman Street parking lot, which is owned by the City of Rockford.

The city terminated its lease with the company in November after city officials said the bar had fallen months behind on food and beverage tax payments and did not have a business license. alcohol required by the state.

Ken DeCoster: [email protected]; @DeCosterKen