BOYSTOWN — The owner of Roscoe's Tavern said the city unfairly targeted Boystown bars during the 2014 Pride Parade, resulting in Roscoe's temporary closure this week.
Roscoe's Tavern, 3356 N. Halsted St., posted a message on its Facebook page and website Monday saying the closure would last through Friday.
"We have learned a lot from this experience and have implemented specific procedures to help prevent this from happening again," the message read.
Owner Jim Ludwig told DNAinfo Chicago that the yearlong process of appealing the liquor commissioner's decision yielded "very disappointing results."
"It was just a travesty basically. The way the city is working, they have a lot of motivation to tweak anybody they can who is an easy target," Ludwig said Monday afternoon.
Ariel Cheung explains why the temporary closure took over a year:
After the bar received its citation from the fire marshal in June 2014, Ludwig said he felt he had no choice but to appeal the liquor commissioner's ruling, which he deemed an "injustice." Ludwig said Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) tried to be "as helpful as he could," but wasn't able to prevent the temporary closure.
It was a "very bitter, sour lemon," but Ludwig said he still attempted to "make lemonade" with changes to the bar's entry limits for this year's parade. The changes, though, came at a cost.
"You could literally shoot a cannon through Roscoe's during Gay Pride [Parade] this year. The bartenders were not busy anywhere near like they could be. It's a disservice to the public — it keeps more people outside, and who does that help?" Ludwig said.
The tavern owner denied that the bar was more crowded than during Pride Parades past and slammed the city for "very, very spotty, erratic enforcement." Roscoe's occupancy is 506 people, and the 2014 citation was the first issue it had in 28 years of operation, Ludwig said.
"We are being hugely challenged and disrespected, in some ways. We cooperated, as we do with everything, as a tribute to the great citizenship of the neighborhood, and this is your reward?" Ludwig said.
According to the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection's website, "a violation of occupancy limits set for your establishment could lead to hefty fines, closures and even revocation of your license." A department spokeswoman confirmed the closure and said the citation was issued by the Chicago Fire Department.
The citation violated Roscoe's liquor license, which means the closure was handled by the city liquor commissioner, who operates out of the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. The department declined to further discuss Roscoe's situation without a Freedom of Information Act Request.
Tunney's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Public drinking was a central issue for the 2014 Pride Parade, with 230 citations and 45 arrests propelling further efforts this year to curtail public intoxication and maintain order.
During a meeting a few days after the June 28 parade, police and residents applauded businesses for cooperating with law enforcement to calm street crowds in the late evening.
Roscoe's will reopen Saturday for a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the movie "Clueless." Read the tavern's full statement below:
***REPOST***
To Our Valued Customers & Friends:
Roscoe’s will not be open Monday through Friday, July 13th through 17th. Regrettably, on Pride Sunday 2014, we were cited by the City of Chicago for exceeding our allowed occupancy.
The safety of our customers is, was and always will be our number one priority. We have learned a lot from this experience and have implemented specific procedures to help prevent this from happening again.
During the short time our doors will not be open, we hope that you will continue to make Boystown your chosen entertainment destination by visiting some of our close friends and neighbors like Progress Bar and Sidetrack The Video Bar to keep the party going!
We thank you sincerely for your continued support and look forward to enthusiastically welcoming you back to Roscoe’s on Saturday, July 18th and on Sunday, July 19th as well for our celebration of the 20th anniversary of the iconic movie “Clueless.”
Thank you.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
