Missouri law currently states that all bars must close at 1:30 a.m., the time when establishments stop selling alcohol, but the Missouri Students Association is working to change that.
MSA is pushing for bars throughout Columbia to participate in soft closings, in which they stop serving alcohol at their normal time but remain open an hour later, closing at 2:30 a.m. This new idea focuses on giving bar customers a chance to get home safely, MSA President Nick Droege said.
“What goes on right now in Columbia is the bars close simultaneously when the bars stop serving alcohol,” Droege said. “So it gives people very little time to find a ride, sober up, to make arrangements to get home safely.”
Droege said he believes closing an hour later would help this problem.
“What we are working to do is to push (the closing) time so that bars and establishments that serve liquor stay open an hour later,” he said. “That way the customers of that bar can take an hour to try to find a ride home, try to figure out where they’re going, so it increases safety. It also diminishes the crowds in the street when the bar is let out, and hopefully that is a positive for public safety as well.”
The idea originated during the SEC Exchange and is similar to a Florida statute that allows municipalities to set closing times for bars in college towns. Along with MU, various other schools in the SEC are working to establish soft closings in their towns.
The Columbia city ordinance, in sections 4-67 and 4-68, states bars have to stop selling alcohol at 1:30 a.m. but can stay open until 2 a.m. However, this is overridden by the state statute that sets an earlier close time than the city ordinance.
The soft closing idea is still in the early stages of development, Droege said. MSA members are currently working on a proposal for the new policy.
“We aren’t proposing a specific policy at this point,” MSA Legislative Coordinator Matt Tharp said. “We are talking to people who are interested in the end solution and figuring out what we need to do, because we have to change both state statute and the ordinance.”
The process to establish a soft closing is going to take some time, Droege said.
“We really can’t do anything until next spring when the Missouri House of Representatives and Senate get back in session – we have to wait until then,” Droege said. “So basically … between now and then we’re in the stages of getting the right people on board and educating what it would mean to be a city that allows soft closings.”
Not every city in Missouri must follow the state closing laws. St. Louis and Kansas City are both exempt from the state statute because they are considered entertainment districts, and their bars can remain open past the 1:30 a.m. deadline.
However, some Columbia bars have doubts about the idea of a soft closing.
Bengals co-owner Julie Rader said she wants everybody to get home safely but does not believe a soft close would work. She said she doesn’t understand why customers would remain at a bar after they were no longer able to purchase alcohol.
“They’re not going to hang around,” she said. “I mean, they could, some people might hang around, but if they’re not going to be served liquor, they’re not going to hang around.”
Rader also said it would be problematic for Bengal’s to remain open an hour later.
“What they’re going to do is badger everybody for drinks and it’s going to be difficult, and we also need to start cleaning because it takes a long time to clean,” Rader said. “As it is, we don’t get out of here very often until three in the morning, so it would be very difficult for us to do that.”
Harpo’s Managing Partner Victor Shipley said the idea of soft closing isn’t a concern due to the current state statute.
“We’re not sure if we want to do it, but at this point we don’t have an option to do it,” Shipley said. “So it’s kind of a dead issue in my mind because unless there’s a change in the law, at that point we can decide if we want to do it or don’t want to do it. Until the law changes it’s not something that’s a real concern because it’s against the law at this point.”
In the face of opposition, Tharp said MSA members are focusing on educating people and discussing the idea.
“When you see where this has been successful in the past, the solution they came to is one the bars, the police department and the student organizations all agreed was the best solution,” Tharp said. “So at this point we’re not trying to fight off opposition, we’re trying to bring them into the discussions and find something everyone can get behind.”
