Mar 28, 2009 11:04 am US/Eastern
Bar Wants Later Hours So Drinkers Can Sober Up
WORCESTER (WBZ) ―
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The Cava Doro bar in Worcester wants to give its customers an extra hour after last call to sober up before hitting the roads.
WBZ
In order to fight drunk driving a local bar owner wants to stay open later by one hour.
The owner of Cava Doro in Worcester, Peter Tsigas, believes it will give customers more time to sober up.
The city of Worcester is giving the request some serious consideration.
Tsigas isn't asking to serve alcohol later. He just wants to keep the doors open longer so people aren't so rushed after last call.
His bar currently closes at 2 a.m., so if his request is approved by a licensing commission, it will stay open until 3 a.m. But last call for drinks will stay the same.
"If you finish the drink at 1:45, we kick you out. We say, 'You gotta go, and the drink is still right there, so you're on the highway with a drink right there," Tsigas said. "They're basically, for the most part, like guzzling their drinks down."
So why not give them time to sober up? The head of one local neighborhood association says that question gets right to the problem.
"I think it's a poor precedent to be setting. I mean, if the proprietor is really concerned about getting people on the road safely, number 1, don't serve them to the point where they need to sober up," said Gary Vecchio with the Shrewsbury Street Neighborhood Association.
Licensing commissioners seem to agree.
"We have a very difficult time policing what we have to do now, with our fiscal cutbacks and everything with the police department," said Worcester Licensing Commissioner Peter Lukes. "It would be impossible to take people off of patrols and make sure that we're enforcing a new ordinance."
"I got about 800 signatures so far," Tsigas said.
But with a petition under way, Tsigas isn't giving up. On Friday night, there were customers with their pens out hoping to keep the bar alive even after the beer stops flowing.
"The licensing commission takes it up in a hearing next week. Tsigas will be there, signatures in hand. Even though members of the board already seem reluctant, he's holding out hope.
Tsigas wants the extension to apply to all Worcester bars, but commissioners say they can only consider one at a time.
So far Tsigas is the only one who's asked for the later hour.
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