Danielle Johnson, manager of Mike's Movies, summed up what some business owners near Tony Sapia's three downtown bars may have been thinking for some time now.
"There are a lot of fights that break out around here," Johnson said.
But with the liquor license of the three bars suspended, the prospect of shutting down Tony's Big Easy, Lulu's Nightspot and Candy Bar and Lounge has been met with mixed feelings from those who have seen some of the incidents that plague them. Some, such as Johnson, see the bars as prone to fights. Others, such as Panayiotis Beloyeannis, owner of Bell's Greek Pizza, see the three bars as vital to their businesses.
The state seemingly sees the issue as less gray -- all three bars located at 129 1/2 S. Pugh St., have been classified as nuisance bars, said Francesca Chapman, deputy press secretary for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB). And last week, the PLCB refused to renew the liquor license for the three bars owned by Sammark Inc., leaving the future of the establishments in question until an appeal filed by Sammark Inc. processes.
"There have been a number of bad incidents in or just outside those locations," State College Mayor Bill Welch said. "It's unsurprising the [P]LCB took that action."
But if the bars end up closing their doors, Bell's Greek Pizza, 214 E. Calder Way, might lose business from the bars' employees and customers, manager Austin Blaschak said.
"I'm expecting to lose at least 10 or 15 percent of my business," he said.
However, Beloyeannis said customers might still stop by at night, just not as early.
"We're not expecting to lose business from that; we expect to get it a little later," he said. "If the night traffic is being redirected to the other side of town, it will take a little longer."
However, the disorderly barhoppers sometimes cause problems near Mike's Movies, 210 Calder Way, Johnson said.
"This past weekend, we did have someone pee in the store," she said.
Beloyeannis, who worked at a Bell's Pizza at Michigan State University, said he wasn't bothered by behavior from the bar crowd.
"The kids up here are much more considerate and well behaved than they are in other towns," he said.
Lulu's Nightspot, formerly known as Club Love, was the site where former student Michael Donahue was stabbed in the heart on Feb. 17, 2006, after a bar fight, according to court documents. He later died from his wounds.
In April 2006, the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement launched an investigation into the three Sammark Inc. bars, after a complaint alleged Club Love violated state law by offering an "open bar" for a set price the night of Donahue's death, according to Collegian archives.
The bureau ruled on the three bars' liquor law citations that November, and Sammark Inc. received a $600 fine and a one-day liquor license suspension as part of a plea deal, according to Collegian archives.
Donahue's stabbing, for which Josephy A. Ventura was convicted of third-degree murder in September, was not the last incident to be connected to the Pugh Street bars.
In February, police responded to a major disturbance on Pugh Street after the bars closed for the night, during which four people were arrested among a crowd that swelled to more than 200 people, according to Collegian archives.
The disturbance began at about 2 a.m. when a State College Police officer observed a man fighting with bar staff at Tony's Big Easy, 129 1/2 S. Pugh St.
In spite of the incidents, Beloyeannis said he doesn't believe Tony's and its neighbors will end up losing their license.
"I'm expecting they'll be up and running and in good shape for the fall," he said.
