Author: Tony IrvingAs Darnell Williams, president of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts (standing, right), Slade’s Bar and Grill fixture Kaicee King (standing, center) and other community supporters look on, Boston Police Department representatives argue before the Boston Licensing Board that the Tremont Street nightspot attracts violence during a hearing held on Monday, Jan. 5, 2009.
Proprietors and patrons alike fought to keep one of Roxbury’s entertainment mainstays afloat Monday, as Slade’s Bar and Grill owners Ivan Payamps and Ramon Genao — and a few dozen supporters — appeared at City Hall to make their case for maintaining the Tremont Street nightclub’s current entertainment license.
Under the terms of the license, which has been in place since Genao and Payamps took the ownership reins of Slade’s in May 2007, the club is allowed to operate, and provide music and entertainment, until 1 a.m. Most clubs in the city can remain open until 2 a.m.
But a recent spate of violence near Slade’s, including the November shooting of two people outside the club, have some city officials looking to move the club’s closing time up from 1 a.m. to midnight. The owners say the additional restriction would cripple the club.
Representatives from the Boston Police Department (BPD) argued before the city’s licensing board on Monday that Slade’s attracts violence, and that patrons, fearing for their personal safety, bring weapons with them to the club.
Police personnel also claimed that bullets fired during the recent violence hit nearby apartments, and that the violence from the club was hampering the BPD’s ability to monitor other dangerous incidents throughout the city.
The owners said that the police concerns are blown out of proportion. In more than a year and a half since taking over the club, Genao said, there have only been two major incidents nearby — which happened in a two-month period.
“I think it was just two bad incidents,” he said. “One happened outside, and one had nothing to do with us, it just happened in the area.”
About 40 Slade’s patrons in attendance at the event voiced their support for the bar, which many called their “second home.”
Kaicee King, 73, is a fixture of Slade’s.
“Slade’s is the one institution” that hasn’t gone, she said, noting several once-thriving area bars and nightclubs, like Connolly’s, that have passed. King said she doesn’t want to see Slade’s meet with the same fate.
If Slade’s closes, “where do we go?” King asked. “If we don’t go downtown, and there are shootings, do they close up the places down there? Do they curtail the hours? No.
“This is the only place we have that I can come and bring my friends, my children if I want to … I can bring them, and I feel safe.”
Many other members of the audience spoke in support of the club. Mary Delgado, 25, a resident of the nearby Roxy Apartments, was one of them.
“I’ve been living in Boston for five years,” Delgado said. “Slade’s is one of the only places where you feel safe going in — I’ve gone to other clubs in the Roxbury and Dorchester area … you see drug trafficking going through there. You don’t see that at Slade’s.”
Slade’s security measures were a major point of the hearing. Pat-downs are necessary for all patrons, Genao said, who said the club employs a security team of six to maintain safety.
Some patrons, like Pat Loomis, lauded Slade’s for its role as a performance hub for Boston musicians.
“I’d really hate to see the club hindered in any way,” said Loomis, who frequently performs at the club on Tuesday nights.
Many in the audience also brushed off complaints that the club causes noise and parking problems.
“On Tremont, you’re always going to see double parking,” Delgado said. “And I live right on Tremont … when I’m in my apartment, I don’t listen to whatever else is out there. The noisiest nights have been when the Red Sox won the World Series — that’s the only time [the noise] is waking me out of my sleep.”
Previous incarnations of the nightclub have also had to deal with trouble in the area. Former owner Frank Williams closed the club in 1992, telling the Boston Globe that drug dealing and violence along Tremont Street had become so prevalent, “I couldn’t guarantee the safety of my patrons.”
Despite the outpouring of community support at Monday’s hearing, the future of Slade’s remains uncertain.
“We have no idea what’s going to happen,” Genao said.
The licensing board said it will render a decision on Slade’s case within the next 30 days.
