Kozy problems solved?
The decision made last Tuesday to transfer downtown Duluth’s Kozy bar may not solve complaints to that area unless the problems start decreasing, the sooner the better.
The council made their decision after several citizens spoke against and for the transfer to a new owner for the bar at the last City Council meeting.
“Resolution passes,� says City Council President Roger Reinert as half the room gets up to leave, most in favor for the transfer.
The transfer of the sale of intoxicating liquor license from former owner Paul A. King to new owner Eric Ringsred was passed in a 9-1 vote, with fourth council district member Garry Krause being the one to oppose.
“If you plant a tree in the middle of the dessert, it will die,� Krause said about the location of the bar. “A new owner of the bar is going to have a hard time� in that area, he continued.
First Avenue is notorious for being in a bad part of downtown. Drug dealing, prostitution, drunken loitering, and violence, are all occurrences of the corner of East First Street and Second Avenue East.
More than 400 times police were called in the direction of the Kozy in 2005, making that corner the largest area of police call complaints in Duluth that year.
“I see the problems everyday,� said third district City Council member Russ Stewart. “They are serious.�
Ringsred said he does not want to see the summer of 2006 look how it did in 2005. He understands the problems in that area and realizes that there needs to be a change.
“As people who really care about out community,� Ringsred said, “we need to address this.�
Ringsred did not say he had an affirmative plan of action for changing the dangerous conditions on the corner of the bar. He does not believe that it is “fair to blame all those problems on the Kozy�. His first plan of action is to change and improve the appearance of the building.
The council agrees that if the problems on that downtown corner don’t get better, they can always revoke the license. They agree that it is not Ringsred who let the bar become the way it is. To deny him the chance to fix it up and improve the area would be wrong, said many different members of the council.
First council district Laurie Johnson also added that her “concern is that [they] are just going to shift [the problems] to another area� and that isn’t solving the problem.
“This is an opportunity to let things improve,� Stewart said. “I think we should have a positive attitude.�