Private promoters threaten downtown

A downtown brawl earlier this month that spilled out onto Third Street and led to multiple arrests, plus the discovery of an AK-47 assault rifle in someone’s car, is precisely the kind of activity that threatens to scuttle sensible plans to establish downtown as an entertainment destination for the region.

Party promoters rent downtown clubs and reception halls and then turn around and sell hundreds of tickets. These events amount to fly-by-night businesses, and we say they should be stopped because they are a threat do downtown.

Bars, clubs and restaurants are already busy grappling to comply with this city’s convoluted alcohol rules—those both on and off the books—while maintaining peace and order as their crowds grow larger with downtown’s increasing popularity.

Some freelance party promoters have been renting nightclubs and reception halls for a night. Promoters push their events with slick flyers, and they promise to deliver large, thirsty crowds to club owners, or they pay handsome rental fees for private facilities.

The promoter might charge $10 to $15 per person and pocket a tidy profit for simply pulling a crowd together. The club gets a guaranteed packed house and makes its money selling drinks. Reception halls such as Lyceum Dean pocket handsome facility rental fees.

In some cases promoters’ promotional flyers hint at gangster subculture, something obviously designed to attract wannabe thugs or others fascinated with “the life.” With 500 attendees partying with little or no extra security, things can turn ugly easily.

Things did turn violent one recent weekend when a Third Street party spilled out onto the street and sparked a brawl. Police had to step in and use force to subdue the crowd.

Although the story drew little notice from local media, our sister publication, Daily Report, unearthed some alarming details.

“Witnesses say as many as 20 police units responded just after 1 a.m. Sunday to complaints of loud music and a crowd of about 200 people blocking the street outside Avoyelles Café and M Bar,” Daily Report wrote April 4. “One man was Tasered three times, and an LSU linebacker got a misdemeanor summons after both allegedly scuffled with officers. Schlittz & Giggles patrons were barred from leaving until the streets were cleared.”

With city officials cautiously working out details for an entertainment district downtown to encourage a thriving neighborhood of bars, restaurants and small retailers to serve growing downtown night crowds, these kinds of special event parties threaten to hamper or even derail those efforts. Party promoters have no vested interest in downtown, while owners of places like M Bar, The Wine Loft, Happy’s Irish Pub and others are left to wonder about their substantial investments in downtown.

The Downtown Development District and the Metro Council need to find a way to keep fly-by-night party promoters from spoiling downtown, either through existing regulation or by crafting an ordinance that can get the job done. If party promoters want to operate downtown then they should step up and lease their own space and operate a club as a legitimate business.

It would be a real crime if a handful of opportunists managed to scuttle promising plans meant to bring together, rather than divide, Baton Rouge.