HARMONY — The Harmony Inn received its liquor license Thursday after nearly a year of holdups and setbacks and could open in as little as four weeks.

Bob McCafferty, who owns the building at 230 Mercer St., bought the property in August in a sheriff’s sale and initially had his liquor license cleared by the state in June, only to have it revoked in November.

McCafferty said the Department of Revenue told him it wouldn’t reissue the liquor license until it received tax information from 2009-2013, a time during which the business was owned by previous owner Gary Barnes.

McCafferty submitted those documents months ago but was still left in limbo after state officials insisted information was missing or incomplete.

That’s when McCafferty enlisted the help of local and state politicians, as well as the Butler Eagle, to get the word out about his plight.

“The Butler Eagle article got everybody fired up,” McCafferty said. “It really saved the license and saved Harmony. I don’t know what would have happened to the building and the town if we didn’t get that license.”

McCafferty said an old friend who read the newspaper article even started an online petition that received more than 2,500 signatures in its first few days of existence.

McCafferty said it will take about four weeks to get the property up and running. He has to rehire about 50 employees who were let go months ago after the restaurant couldn’t open due to the absence of the liquor license.

“Now we have a timeline, now we can open a business,” McCafferty said. “It might be another three weeks or a month, but at least we have a timeline.”

Unfortunately, according to McCafferty, his business with the state isn’t over.

That’s because he is applying for an extension to the liquor license that would allow alcohol in the basement, the second floor of the building and outside on the patio.

McCafferty said he immediately applied for the extension on Thursday and he expects to receive it in the coming weeks.

Beyond getting the liquor license extension and rehiring employees, McCafferty said the business is almost ready to go. That’s because he already renovated the building and received the necessary permits before the state revoked the liquor license last year.

To say the least, McCafferty said Thursday he’s happy to finally be able to open the historic landmark after years of it being closed.

“I’m going to make sure we do everything we can to help bring people to Harmony and see how beautiful it is here,” he said.

Harmony council President Jim Hulings said Thursday he “couldn’t be happier” with the news about the license, calling the inn “the heart” of the borough.

“You can’t imagine what this means to us,” Hulings said. “We’re going to be dancing in the streets.”

Hulings said it’s “the best news I’ve heard all year for Harmony,” adding he’s happy the restaurant and bar could be open for the heart of tourism season.

Jack Cohen, president of the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau, was one of the local officials who pushed the hardest for the Harmony Inn to get its license.

Cohen said he even took local and state politicians down to the site in an effort to get them on board with the liquor license.

“Thank God,” Cohen said Thursday about the license. “We did everything in our power behind the scenes to try to help him, from the governor’s office down to state senators and representatives. What happened was wrong, they needed to fix it, and they did.”