Iowa City bar owners debate new 21-only law

As Iowa City prepares to begin enforcing a new 21-only entry age for bars June 1, most people connected to the downtown live music scene say the show will go on.

Bar owners, those who book live entertainment and University of Iowa students agree that a change over the summer and early fall will be minimal, and they're confident the new law will be overturned in a November referendum.

They'll simply find ways to adjust in the meantime. Sam Locke Ward, talent buyer at The Mill, said the venue doesn't plan to change its music schedule in light of the 21-only law, though changes eventually might be made based on what happens with the ordinance in November. The Mill hosts live music and other entertainment seven nights a week consistently throughout the year.

"We're just holding on to see the exact deal," he said.

Beginning June 1, all-ages shows at the Blue Moose Tap House will start earlier so underage patrons can attend an entire show before the 10 p.m. curfew, said Doug Roberson, talent buyer for Blue Moose Tap House, which hosts live music at least three nights a week.

Though the Blue Moose is a popular venue for all-ages shows, it already offers enough 21 and older events to keep the business from suffering irreparably, Roberson said.

"We just kind of adapt and deal with it on a day-to-day basis," he said.

Gabe's owner Scott Federspiel declined to comment for the story. Scott Kading, owner of the Iowa City Yacht Club, and Mike Porter, owner of One Eyed Jakes, The Summit and Vito's, did not return phone calls or e-mails seeking comment.

Despite little change in show schedules, some said they think the ordinance will cause the arts to suffer more than the businesses.

"The law wasn't directly supposed to affect the arts, but it is," Locke Ward said. "The arts are just going to be a casualty of this law."

Locke Ward noted examples of when he would come to Iowa City as a high school student from Ottumwa and see "amazing, life-changing stuff," he said.

"Bands don't go to small-town Iowa. Kids come here," Locke Ward said. "Younger people who wanted to see art could, back in the day."

Roberson said he thinks the ordinance was a waste of the city council's time.

"There's got to be something else they could spend a lot of time dealing with," he said. "If someone's 18, they're old enough to get shot at in Afghanistan and can't have a drink? I just think it's a dumb idea. The kids are going to drink no matter what."

Local bands and musicians also are concerned about the negative effects the ordinance may have on the college town's entertainment scene.

"That you go to college and you can't see live music is frankly ridiculous," said Dave Bess, frontman for the Iowa City-based band Public Property.

Bess said he thinks the "heart of the problem" with binge drinking in Iowa City is the fact that it's illegal to drink until age 21. The ordinance, he said, will only aggravate rebellion.

"When you demonize something, it will be abused," he said.

As for UI students, many are confident the referendum again allowing underage patrons in bars past 10 p.m. will pass in November. However, many said they worry about what will happen to the live music scene in the meantime.

"I don't have a problem with the 21-only ordinance. It's just that a lot of the venues, just any place that serves alcohol but isn't (primarily) a bar, like Gabe's or the Blue Moose, won't be able to survive," said UI student Drew Hemesath, 20. "It should be more up to bars than the city to decide."

Hemesath, who will turn 21 in January 2011, said he thinks the ordinance will be overturned by voters in November.

"It's just temporary," he said.

UI students Emilia Hodges and Erica Recker, both 19, said they aren't worried about missing out on the downtown nightlife, but they do think the ordinance will foster more reckless behavior by underage students, including attending house parties and using fake IDs.

"It'll drive the underground," Recker said.

"We were freshman this year and we'll be sophomores next year, and with these students (who are upset), it's a lifestyle they're used to," Hodges said.

As for the entertainment scene, Hodges said, "It will definitely affect local music, (which is) a valuable part of our culture. It's sad to see that."

-The Associated Press