Shaken & Stirred Ushuaia owner disputes town’s denial of permits

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ORONO – Plenty of college-aged people flock to Ushuaia, a local nightclub, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, lining up at the door and waiting to have their IDs checked by club security before they enter ready to drink, dance and socialize.

The club, which usually doesn’t get going until around 10 p.m., is the only one of its kind near the University of Maine campus. It’s an outlet for students who need a break from class and work, but also draws a mixed crowd, sometimes leading to problems.

Described by police and town officials as a melting pot that has the potential to create trouble, Ushuaia has held concerts for all ages, comedy shows, and wine tastings.

The club has had its problems over the years – assaults, underage drinking and drug use in the parking lot, alleged rapes and stabbings – but the incidents have escalated recently to a point that the Town Council finds unacceptable for a business in town.

Earlier this month, the council denied the club’s liquor and special amusement permits, based not on the increase in incidents to which police responded at the club in the last year, but on the severity of the incidents and concern for the safety of patrons.

“Forty-seven incidents is really not that big a deal,” Orono Deputy Police Chief Gary Duquette said Wednesday. “It was the nature of the incidents that they based their decision on.”

The permit denial highlights underlying tension between the town and the university community. Although the relationship between the two entities has improved over the last few years, according to town and university officials, there still are elements that remain strained, and that strain becomes more apparent when an issue such as permitting arises.

Each year when it’s time for the club’s permits to be renewed, councilors have engaged in lengthy discussion about the operation of the club, and each year – until now – the council has been satisfied with club owner Alex Gray’s attempts to improve things.

In 2002 when Ushuaia’s licenses were up for renewal, there was an issue involving seminude women in a bikini contest at the club. The police chief at the time showed the council pictures of the girls, stating that the event broke a town ordinance regarding nudity.

Gray’s permits were issued with three conditions: that he allow public officials into the nightclub to check compliance with the town ordinance; that a violation would result in the revocation of the special amusement permit; and that he would outline an operating procedure to prevent future licensing violations.

Last year, there was concern over underage drinking in the parking lot and complaints about noise. Gray explained he had installed sound monitoring equipment, and Orono police stepped up their presence by parking across the street from the club during busy hours. Gray’s cooperation and the added police presence cut down on both problems, and the permits were issued.

This year was a different story.

The council denied the special amusement and liquor permits based on safety concerns for patrons.

Gray has appealed the liquor license denial to the state and the special amusement permit denial to the town board of appeals.

The town board is tentatively scheduled to address the issue at a meeting Feb. 14.

The club’s liquor license is scheduled to expire Feb. 11, but the state commission has agreed to allow the club to continue operations until a public hearing is held on the issue.

“They’re going to let us keep doing our thing because we’ve had our license in good standing since 1998,” Gray said earlier this week.

Safety first

Councilors’ main concerns were the two stabbings at the club last year, one of which remains under investigation, and an incident in which a patron received more than 20 stitches to close a gash in his head after an assault.

Most of the fights seem to start inside, according to police.

“Later on in the evening, they’ll spill out in the parking lot,” Duquette explained this week.

The deputy chief’s advice for Gray is to throw out the troublemakers and keep them out.

“I think that’s something he could address a little more aggressively,” Duquette said.

Gray said Wednesday that the club has a zero tolerance policy, but he said he understands that people make mistakes. Most members of Gray’s security staff have been with him since the club opened, and many of them he worked with even before that. Although they aren’t police officers, the staffers do receive training.

“Are they experts? I think to be an expert in security, in this case, you need to learn to read people’s body language,” Gray said. “You need to anticipate what one person might do next.”

Gray said his employees are well-trained and consistently prevent incidents from happening or escalating.

“Everybody’s going to make mistakes,” he said. “If you punch somebody in the face, you’re gone. If you’re in a fight, you’re gone.”

He noted that councilors at the recent meeting kept referring to last year’s license renewal process.

“The resounding complaint [last year] was underage drinking in the parking lot and noise complaints,” Gray said.

“I think there’s been a fairly significant decrease as far as [underage drinking in the parking lot] is concerned,” Duquette said.

The number of noise complaints Gray receives because of the booming bass coming from the club also have dwindled significantly, and just four or five were received in the last year during the summer months when doors to the building were open.

“He’s always real good about [turning the music down],” Duquette noted.

This time around, councilors also were concerned that Gray didn’t have a plan to improve security, but the club owner said he didn’t think he needed one.

“Maybe I should have known, but if you read the council agenda from the night, it says to approve the license based on council ordinances and state ordinances,” Gray said.

He noted that surveillance cameras were installed several years ago, and since the stabbings, staff members have been trained to use metal detectors to wand patrons as they enter the club.

“The issue is we’ve taken steps to protect our patrons because we want to protect our patrons,” Gray said. “If this place is as dangerous a place as the council makes it out to be, we wouldn’t have any customers.”

Although Gray said he thinks the council is “concerned about the safety of their constituents,” he has his own issues with the elected officials.

“One of the beefs that I have with the council is that I’ve invited them to the building consistently, and they’ve never come in,” Gray said.

He noted that numerous improvements have been made to the establishment since he began operations and that it’s much cleaner and safer than when it was Geddy’s Pub.

“Ushuaia is so much more than it was eight years ago when we first opened,” Gray said. “It’s so much more of a social experience now.”

North of Augusta, and even Portland, there isn’t a venue that’s providing live entertainment like Ushuaia does, according to Gray and his patrons.

“We understand that not everybody subscribes to what we have as a service to offer, but we feel that we offer a very safe service,” Gray said.

UM students’ objections

Ushuaia is a frequent destination for some college students, and the council’s denial of the club’s permits has added to the perception of some students that the town is against the college crowd.

“The situation is the climax of an undercurrent of disconnect between University of Maine students and other Orono town residents,” UM student government President Brigham McNaughton said Wednesday.”Currently the town of Orono holds its Town Council elections during spring break,” McNaughton said. “The town office confirmed, on a telephone call I made, that university students make up at least 50 percent of the registered voters in the town of Orono. Clearly the placement of these elections inhibits the democratic process.”

Town Manager Cathy Conlow disagrees. Although the elections are held in March, students still have the opportunity to vote.

“The elections have been held in March since I don’t know when,” Conlow said, noting that the date is set in the town’s charter. “Student body registered voters are always welcome to vote absentee at the town office. You just call, and we’ll send you an absentee ballot.”

The UM student government has been monitoring the situation regarding Gray’s permits, and on Tuesday passed three resolutions in response to the license denial.

The first calls on McNaughton to organize a meeting of UM and town officials “to collaborate on possible solutions to the lack of representation in local elections due to the conflict of spring break and March elections,” McNaughton explained.

The Student Senate also passed resolutions urging the council to reconsider its denial of the Ushuaia special amusement permit and supporting the club to the State Liquor and Lottery Commission and the Orono town appeals board.

“The Town Council was duly elected, but by a process which disenfranchises the majority of the voting population,” McNaughton said, noting that now it’s up to student government to represent the students because their voice isn’t part of the Town Council.

“I believe that any time you deal with a university and town relations, there’s certainly challenges to those relationships,” Conlow said. “I think more than ever we have a council that is enthusiastic about being part of a university town and the energy the students bring to the town.”

The decision about Ushuaia was made more as a safety measure and “didn’t have anything to do with the students per se,” she said.

The council “wants to make sure that if the students are going there, or any of our patrons or residents are there, they’re safe.”

Gray said he respects that, but he stressed that he’s put a lot of money into the club in recent years to improve safety and its appearance.

“I’ve spent a lot of money really trying to make that place look nice,” Gray said. “Orono’s a very nice community, and we just obviously want to minimize the impact that we have.”

Ushuaia incidents

Number of incidents police were called to at Ushuaia in Orono in the past five years.

Year Incidents

2001 16

2002 20

2003 23

2004 43

2005 47