Irish bar The Phyrst, long considered a St. Patrick's Day staple, has confirmed they will be open for business at 8 a.m. March 2, the day some have designated Penn State's version of the Irish holiday.
The confirmation came just two days after the university released a statement regarding the danger of another full day of drinking.
University spokesman Bill Mahon issued a statement Friday, saying the university would be reacting with caution to a March 2 celebration since moving the holiday would cost the borough extra dollars and resources.
"Moving the celebration to a new day will mean more work," he wrote.
Mahon defined the work as additional resources and costs for the police department, medical center and judicial affairs.
"There were 76 criminal arrests last St. Patrick's Day by State College Borough Police, compared to a daily average of nine
such arrests throughout the year," Mahon wrote. "Nearly 60 percent of these arrests were students."
This year, St. Patrick's Day falls on the Saturday before classes resume from spring break. Students have been petitioning local bars to join in moving the celebration to another day.
Local bars such as Zeno's, 100 W. College Ave., Player's Night Club, 112 W. College Ave., Café 210, 210 W. College Ave., The Gingerbread Man, 130 Hiester St., The Deli, 113 Hiester St., Bill Pickle's Tap Room, 106 S. Allen St., The Saloon, 101 Hiester St., and now the Phyrst, 111 1/2 E. Beaver Ave., have committed to March 2.
The bars had originally planned a wristband system to allow students to bar hop for a single cover charge, Joe Segen (senior-Japanese) and Mike Owens (senior-finance) said. Segen and Owens have been at the forefront of the student movement to change the holiday.
Segen and Owens met with bar owners Feb. 9 to confirm plans of the bar tour; however, the bars had decided that they would be celebrating independently. The owners cited bad press from Penn State and the borough as reasons, Segen said.
"[The bars] felt like they were putting themselves at risk -- they didn't think it was very socially responsible to do," he said.
Michael Fullington, general manager of The Phyrst, confirmed that it had originally planned to take part in the wristband system, but has now chosen to celebrate independently.
"We will be celebrating on our own," Fullington said. "We will be opening at 8 a.m on that day, because that's what students want," he said.
However, Mahon and members of borough council remain concerned about the change.
Last year, there were 10 students taken to the emergency room on St. Patrick's Day for excessive drinking that occurred, Mahon said.
"The ER visits by Penn State students on St. Patrick's Day have gone up three years in a row," Mahon said. The total number of alcohol overdoses cannot be tallied, because the medical center does not keep records for nonstudents, he said.
Last year on St. Patrick's Day, the university experienced many alcohol-related incidents, including an accident where then-freshman Ryan P. Walton fell from a sixth story window while attending a party in Beaver Hall.
