More than $2 million in liens, or a claim of unpaid debt, were filed against Mills Family Realty, Inc. last week. 

The filings of the liens coincided with Mariah’s restaurant and 643 Sports Bar, owned by Mills Family Realty Inc., informing their customers Monday that the restaurants would be closed until further notice. 

Two liens were filed.  A lien from Alliance Corporation, a construction company based in Glasgow, is for $1,880,046.57 plus interests and costs. Alliance’s lien states the company had entered into a contract with Mills Family Realty, Inc. in which Alliance provided “labor, materials and supplies for constructing improvements” for Hitcents Park Plaza.

A lien from D&M Electric of Bowling Green, for $502,712.60 plus interests and costs, asserts that the company had entered into a contract with Mills Family Realty Inc. for “provided labor, materials and supplies for constructing improvements” upon Hitcents Park Plaza.

Mariah’s and 643 Sports Bar, located in Hitcents Park Plaza, are considered a popular spot for the WKU community and Bowling Green as a whole.

Morganfield senior Alyson Manley, who worked at Mariah’s as a waitress since June 2013, was very surprised when she found out the restaurant had closed and didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary leading up to the closure.

“We just did not see this coming at all,” she said.

Manley was first informed about the closure Monday morning through a scheduling system Mariah’s uses. The message she received stated that the restaurant would reopen as soon as possible. When Manley saw several articles written by various news media, she said the media’s interpretation of the closure was more “doomsdayish.” 

“They made it sound like we were closed for good,” she said.

Manley, who also works in the Admissions Office, is going to wait and see if Mariah’s reopens, but said she knows many former Mariah’s employees who have already begun looking for new jobs.

“… That was their only source of income, so they are looking… for other jobs just because there’s a little bit of uncertainty about when we’ll be up and running again,” she said.

West Palm Beach, Florida senior Natalie Lenderman, who visited Mariah’s a couple of times a month, said she was “shocked” when she heard about the closure. Lenderman, who enjoyed Mariah’s salads, said she won’t have to go far when it comes to finding an eatery to replace Mariah’s.

“It’s probably going to be somewhere close to campus,” she said.

Manley said she hopes she can go back to work at Mariah’s soon.

“It’s just a waiting game at this point,” she said.