Temperatures are rising about a request to add beer and wine at the Boiler Room in Kalispell.

Vince Padilla, who owns the coffeehouse and restaurant with his wife, Charlette, and daughter Jasmine McShae, said the focus of the business will not change.

The Boiler Room currently offers coffee, tea, pressed sandwiches, bagels, salads and soups in what was the boiler building of the former Courthouse East that is now the Eastside Brick development. The Boiler Room has been in business since November 2009.

The business has received numerous requests for beer or wine in the evenings, Padilla said. That’s what spurred the request for a change to the planned-unit development for Eastside Brick.

The Kalispell City Council will consider the request on Monday during its regular council session.

If the council approves the change, Vicki Dunaway, 63, of Billings would provide the beer and wine through her business, The Purple Parrot LLC. That business previously offered beer and wine at Tacos Caliente, 7 First Ave. E.N., for several months in 2009. That business relocated to Main Street before closing, according to Dunaway’s attorney, Jim Healow.

A transfer-of-location request for The Purple Parrot’s beer and wine license is pending before the Montana Department of Revenue.

“Since the closure of some establishments in Kalispell, people have less locations to choose from to enjoy a quiet evening of food and drink,” Padilla said in his letter to the city.

Padilla said the business would not sell alcohol until 4 p.m. or until students leave nearby Hedges Elementary School. The Boiler Room has a good relationship with the school, he said, noting the business has donated 5 percent of its sales between 3 and 6 p.m. each day to the school.

Rebecca Groose-Jones, who lives nearby on Fifth Avenue East, is against the request.

“The biggest losers of this proposed alcohol outlet would be the school children, pedestrians and cyclists facing intersections with buzzed drivers zipping home from happy hour,” she said in a letter published Sunday in the Daily Inter Lake.

The coffee house also has been a venue for music.

Healow said the business likely would book more musicians if it is able to serve beer and wine.

There have been some noise complaints, but Padilla said the Boiler Room had only one event on the building’s roof. “We probably will not have any more” on the roof, he said.

Laura Behenna, who lives a half block away from the Boiler Room, said she observed roof-top bands playing there at least three times last year.

Another neighbor who declined to give her name said she observed musicians on the roof “several times.”

According to information from the Kalispell Police Department, four complaints about loud noise emanating from the Boiler Room were made on July 15, 16, and 30, and Sept. 18.

Behenna is concerned that the vandalism that already occurs in the neighborhood will only increase if alcohol is served there. Young people who work seasonal jobs in the spring and summer are likely to be attracted to the business if it serves alcohol, she said. As a result, she believes they are likely to party and get loud and obnoxious at times.

Business hours also are not likely to change much. They currently are 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. The one exception could be closing at 10 p.m. on Saturday.

Padilla’s request went before the city’s site review committee, which determined the requested change to the planned unit development to be a “major” one. The committee could approve a minor change, but a request for a major change goes before the City Council.

About 67 neighbors were notified of the request, according to City Clerk Theresa White.

The Boiler Room also prepared a letter for local residents. The Jan. 31 letter said they want to add “small inexpensive appetizers” and “a few local beers and specialty wines.

“The trend of coffee houses also serving beer and wine has been common in Europe for many years and is now reaching the U.S.,” the letter states. Their coffee roaster, Caffe Vita, has been offering beer and wine in a few of their neighborhood locations for about a year.

Monday’s meeting at City Hall, 201 First Ave. E, starts at 7 p.m.

Reporter Caleb Soptelean may be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at csoptelean@dailyinterlake.com.