City officials voted to suspend the liquor license of a popular campus bar at a special hearing of the Alcohol License Review Committee Thursday.
The Kollege Klub, 529 N. Lake St., will have its liquor license suspended from Dec. 13, 2009, through Jan. 11, 2010, because of continued problems with violence, underage drinking and overconsumption.
During its four-week hiatus, the KK will be completely out of service, unable to serve alcohol or food.
Assistant City Attorney Jennifer Zilavy and Sgt. Anthony Fiore of the Madison Police Department, who filed the original complaint against the bar, both said they felt the timing of the suspension was heavy enough but still fair. While it is closed, the bar will lose business from the New Year's holiday and several basketball and hockey games.
Zilavy also stressed that 2007 and 2008 were relatively bad years for the KK, but that 2009 has seen improvements.
Bruce Meier, owner of the bar, hired a Milwaukee company to come in and evaluate the bar's practices.
Meier said the outcome of the evaluation was positive overall, aside from discovering two bartenders were stealing money. The company was happy with the door and floor operations and the other bartenders.
The KK came under scrutiny in May for similar offenses, but Fiore said one of the reasons no dramatic improvements have been seen is because the campus area is much quieter during the summer months.
Still, Meier said he completely understands what the police are asking of him and will be overly cautious and aggressive in taking care of the violent acts and underage patrons.
It's embarrassing, it's humbling and it's terrifying that I'm sitting here after 37 years,"" he said. ""We're going to do everything we can to make the Kollege Klub a good place. There's nobody else to blame but myself. I dropped the ball.""
Meier also said this is the most comfortable he has felt working with the MPD.
""Sgt. Fiore has been around, he has experience and there's an open door of communication between us and the MPD,"" he said. ""I don't think we've always had that.""
Meier said he will take full responsibility for training all staff in current liquor laws and calling the police when anything looks like it might be an act of violence.
""We're going to have better communication between the floor and the door, and also eliminate drink specials on weekends,"" he said.
