Springfield bars already bracing for end of 3 a.m. liquor licenses

Justin Rebbe said the 2 a.m. licensing for Springfield bars was "a good compromise for now."

That doesn't mean the co-owner of Clique, which caters to the LGBTQ community, and which has held a 3 a.m. license in downtown Springfield for a little over two years, won't be considering some changes to the operation.

"We'll definitely still have a loss of revenue in that time (from 2 to 3 a.m.), and that also speaks for our gaming revenue as well we had during those hours," Rebbe said after Tuesday's Springfield City Council meeting.

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"I think it will definitely affect our staffs in certain ways, but I think the impact could have been worse. (As far as layoffs), that's something that we really hope we don't have to do."

The ordinance on the table coming into Tuesday's meeting was rolling 3 a.m. liquor licenses back to 1 a.m.

But Mayor Misty Buscher admitted she heard the voices of those the 3 a.m. liquor license holders and with the Springfield Police as a major player, struck a compromise at 2 a.m. The final ordinance was approved 9-1.

That means Springfield will have one liquor license for bars. Those bar owners with 1 a.m. licenses now will have an extra hour of operation, though bars may opt to close when they want before 2 a.m.

Bars licensed by Sangamon County go to a 1 a.m. closing time on July 1. The county board rebuffed a similar 2 a.m. compromise, but Sam Cahnman of District 18 said he may revisit the issue in light of city action.

Ward 5 Ald. Lakeisha Purchase said Wednesday that she was supportive of the bars keeping their 3 a.m. licenses. Four of those bars, all downtown, are in her ward.

In meeting with bar owners Monday, one of the ideas floated, Purchase said, was a 2 a.m. license, which she planned to bring up as an amendment Tuesday.

Purchase said she didn't know until minutes before she walked into the city council meeting that there was already a plan to bring up a similar amendment.

"I wanted (the bar owners) to have something versus nothing," said Purchase, who planned to have a follow-up conversation with the owners.

Barry Friedman, the owner of The Alamo, 115 N. Fifth St., saw the 3 a.m. city license as "our little niche."

"We offered something different that nobody else had," Friedman said during Tuesday's public comment section, lobbying to keep the 3 a.m. status. "We've lost that difference now, so I think this will, in the long run, hurt us."

Friedman thought the move would hurt downtown as well because bar patrons would be less inclined to move to different bars if they had similar closing times.

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Four of the 3 a.m. license holders in the city are downtown.

Jazmine Mileham socializes in Springfield, but often doesn't get off work in Decatur until around midnight.

"Being able to have that nightlife experience, with the bars still open until 3 a.m.," Mileham said, "I'm lucky to have that and with that being taken away, it will have an impact to us as a community as a whole."

Debra Poole, one of the owners of Unique's Bar and Grill, 1231 E. Cook St., maintained the city has bigger problems, like weekend pop-up parties that draw hundreds of attendees, rather than 3 a.m. licenses.

Springfield Police Chief Ken Scarlette said he was grateful to Mayor Misty Buscher's office and the city council for giving the department teeth to address pop-up parties. He's also referred to the liquor licensing as a public safety issue.

Addressing the media after Tuesday's meeting, Scarlette said the department wasn't acting punitively.

"I'm completely in support of our city making downtown a vibrant community and seeing it thrive," he said. "That's what I love about Springfield, so the last thing I'm about as the chief of police is punishing anyone.

"This is about me trying to prevent and being proactive in our response, along with the help of the city council and the mayor's office, to eliminate problems from coming into our community."

Rebbe said Clique was going to do "whatever we can to make it, even if means restructuring. I'm sure there will be changes made, but I'm trying to be a little bit of an optimist, and I think it's better to have a 2 o'clock (license) than not have one at all."

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; [email protected]; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield bars bracing for end of 3 a.m. liquor sales come 2025