City weighs 'soft closing' for Calgary bars

In an effort to curb after-hours anarchy in the city's entertainment districts, police have approached bar owners with the idea of a "soft closing" time.

Currently, bars must stop serving alcohol at 2 a.m. and have patrons out an hour later.

Staff Sgt. Quinn Jacques suggested that by giving bars a full two hours to shepherd patrons out the door, it could help avoid the sudden appearance of thousands of drunk partiers on downtown streets.

"At that point, customers don't have access to washroom facilities, they don't have access to transportation," Jacques told CBC News after meeting with bar owners Thursday.

He said that what follows are complaints of fights, noise, public urination and vomiting.

"[You get] hundreds of people lining the sidewalk, many of them shirtless, many of them propping each other up, using the washroom on the sidewalk, all in an attempt to flag a cab and get home," said Jacques.

'There's no sales to be made. The party's over.' — Maciej Kudrycki, bar manager

Richard Pridham, manager of The Mercury Lounge on 17th Avenue, said the move wouldn't work for businesses.

"You're going to cut off service at 2 [a.m.] and give two hours for people to leave a bar or club. That's a very long time for people who are probably ready to go home, and people who might want to party who now know that they don't have to leave for a little while … might just loiter," said Pridham.

Amsterdam Rhino bar manager Maciej Kudrycki agreed that many bars wouldn't go for the soft closing since they'd still be forced to stop selling booze at 2 a.m.

"There's no sales to be made. The party's over."

Chrissy Bruno, day manager of Classic Jack's, said that while the soft closing might address some of the after-hours problems downtown, there are other concerns.

"People who don't work in the industry might be like, 'Yes, that is a great idea.' But people who have never worked in the industry don't really know what it's like to be here until 4:30, 5 in the morning after working a 14-hour shift, being on your feet the whole time," said Bruno. "So it goes both ways."

Jacques said he expected feedback from bars over the next couple of weeks. If the city decides to allow bars the soft closing, it would be up to individual establishments to decide whether to take it on.