After a highly successful nine-year run on the corner of 32nd St. and Lyndale Ave. in South Minneapolis, the much-loved Pizza Lucé Block Party is going on hiatus this year and beginning the search for a larger location. 

Pizza Lucé's CEO JJ Haywood says the decision was made after consulting with managers and neighbors, who agreed that the booming party had grown too large for the confined block-long location. Minneapolis City Council Member Meg Tuthill, who oversees the 10th ward, supported their decision. "They made the choice," she said. "They've done a great job, but they realized that they'd outgrown the space."

The first Pizza Lucé Block Party occurred in 2003 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the popular restaurant. In the past two years especially, the event had started to overwhelm the city block, especially due to massively popular headliners like P.O.S. in 2011 and Brother Ali in 2010. 

Haywood says she plans to bring the Block Party back in time for another major anniversary for the business. "We are sad to end its run at our Uptown location," she says, "however, we are excited to bring it back at a new location for Pizza Luce's 20th anniversary in 2013.”

And marketing manager Corey Sax says they may end up merging their block party with another event. "Ideally, we’re looking to partner with the local music community in the Twin Cities and collaborate on a block party type event," he says. "Local music is a huge part of who we are, who our customers are and our brand. It’s incredibly important that we create a unique event that celebrates this connection. We look forward to continuing to work with awesome local musicians.”