Iowa City bar will offer non-alcoholic level to under 21 crowd

IOWA CITY - The Library Nightclub, 113 E. College St., will be the first to offer a non-alcoholic floor to patrons under the age of 21 who wish to stay at the bar past 10 p.m.

On Thursday, Iowa City approved a request to make the Library the debut split venue bar.

“We wanted to figure out a way to let (underage people) here, but still be a bar at the same time,” said Russ Brown, the Library's co-manager.

A city ordinance requires anyone under the age of 21 to leave a bar by 10 p.m., but the ordinance makes exceptions for split, or divided, venues. Tom Lenoch, the Library's owner, said the lower level of the bar will only serve non-alcoholic alternatives, such as energy drinks, starting at 10 p.m., while the upper level will serve alcohol.

“Underage people like to go out and they aren't all drinking,” Brown said. “They go out to socialize and they like to go out and dance.”

The Library “Underground” will be open after 10 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Alcohol still will be served on both floors on Tuesdays, co-manager Erin Buckel said.

Bar staff will supervise both the lower and upper levels of the bar, Lenoch said. Patrons will receive different-colored cups, and no alcohol will be allowed on the basement floor. No one under the age of 21 will be allowed on the main floor.

“We're giving them somewhere to come, somewhere to hang out, somewhere to socialize,” Buckel said. “But in a safer environment than say a house party.”

There will be separate entrances for the two levels. Underage patrons entering the “Underground” will be required to be at least 18 years old and must have a student ID card, Buckel said.

The Library “Underground” will open March 1.  Both the University of Iowa and local police department have expressed satisfaction with the idea.