Downtown Pub Maybe Closing It's Doors for Good

Sunday, January 07, 2007

1/7/07 (KFSN) -- A restaurant owner says the Fresno Police department's aggressive stance against drunk drivers helped run her out of business. It is one of the few businesses open at night in downtown Fresno, but the owner says customers are afraid to enjoy themselves.

Fagan's Irish Pub owner Carrie Fagan has been in business for nearly two-years, but her pub will be closed for the next two-weeks, while she thinks about shuttering her business for good.

An internet posting advertises a future liquidation sale, but Fagan says she just can't find it in her heart to have it.

Since Fagan's Downtown Irish Pub closed it's doors Friday night, owner Carrie Fagan has had to turn away dozens of regulars.

"We have been struggling, I've been letting my customers know that something's happened," said Fagan.

Fagan says she's seen business fall off by 50% over the last few months. She blames the pub's failure on a variety of mostly location-related issues. Some which include, what she says is a perception among some members of the public that downtown is unsafe, and customer complaints of receiving wrongly-issued parking tickets.

"It's a tough struggle to be in downtown Fresno, and I think I made a horrible mistake in putting it downtown," Fagan said.

But Fagan says another problem has been her customers concern about the Fresno Police Department's aggressive DUI enforcement including numerous checkpoints and the controversial bar watch programs.

Sergeant Eric Eide is a traffic supervisor with Fresno Police Department. He says that he feels bad for Fagan, but customers talking about police efforts to arrest drunk drivers, is exactly what the police want people to discuss while they enjoy a drink.

"There's not a person that cannot get a taxi or have a designated driver. If those people are making decisions not to continue to get drunk then I applaud them," Sergeant Eide said.

12 workers could lose their jobs if Fagan's stays shut. Through it all, Fagan says she wants to communicate that downtown really is a safe place to be, whether she re-opens Fagan's or not.

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