ta ? Local ta THE BATTALION FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1980 Page 5 rte throwing!!;, s semester« Christina;; ji xm Te.us.ti 1 ] . catalog? I t it away! \ r’s office b;|.. ;s to give m Solution sought to Northgate bar crowding proble Patricia Street wall for overflow may be answer shellenberger’s By SUZANNE HEMBY Battalion Reporter “Stepping out” for many students esterbrougfeij at Texas A&M University usually neans going to one of the Northgate bars. Many people are concerned about some problems surrounding these bars: the Dixie Chicken, the Thirsty Turtle, the Alamo and Duddleys m students# en’tanymod nts enteriijj 'ring. :alogs areal ents enteiiiil ist have tola ts have sot jl • that they'd " said LiaiiJ represent! records, tali? 1 nesses. Don Canter, one of the Dixie thicken owners, said he is “all for losing off Patricia Street” on the veekends and giving the people an st Mow lit University viththel! i it. You ther copy The main problem is that when iere are so many people at these s, the crowds often flow out onto diversity Drive. A solution would to move the bar’s front doors to ’atricia Street in back of the busi- the Mis ■en ordered t 1 said, Aboal tecal cents eacl. e registrars i y copiesof'ij A solution to this come avaiH problem would be to le message! ; move the front doors St' Patrici » street r.manycar located in hack of the r : businesses. ts. About” .000 catalog th many * ormation tt; area to talk outside. He added that rbout $2,000 was spent remodeling he back porch of the Dixie Chicken for this purpose. Eric Langford, Student Govem- ent vice president of student ser- ices, said Student Government is looking at the problems of that area, nd hopes to suggest some answers. He said the Patricia Street idea T « i I would be a solution, and it “wouldn’t | fm take much to fix it up.” ^ M Jack Sebastian, owner of the Ala- p mo, said he supports the Patricia WiStreet idea. “I’ve tried to get them I l/I k (other owners, the city) to do this for o years.” He said he cleaned up he Alamo’s back area, which in- luded building an 8-foot rock wall d the construction of an $8,500 arking lot. Richard Benning, owner of Dud- ed its lip dleys Draw, said he is also for the h 41.490::,: rPatricia Street idea. He said steps 1 or activelv* | should be taken to light the back area and clean up and block off the street its an inc® iWith barricades. He added that the 1,540 for Sesl: owners offered to pay for this, which total civil® would cost $5,000, but the city has , 0 other ideas for the area which in- lent in tie l ^ c ^ u ^ e making it into a mall area, corn- area was eit: |lete with benches and a roof over tofthecivife street. This would probably cost people outil! taxpayers about $130, OOO. the unempt: 1 David Mogford, owner of the 4 4 p erffi ; liThirsty Turtle, said his business is r set farther back from the street than the other bars and doesn’t have ac- ivnientlevelr ce ss to Patricia Street. Therefore, he her this yen' doesn’t support the idea. He said he tober 1919 A lights should be added to Uni- mploymeut. versity Drive because it’s extremely iral wage ail r^d to see people in the street, leased 2,2|E * The City of College Station is con- rtember!«: - Cernec i with the bars breaking city epresentsi ordinances. ifacturingil City Planner Albert O. Mayo said 95 percent most these businesses violate at least one ordinance. These establish- ds reporters ments were ^ )u ^ t before the city /duringtk: -Ordinances were written, he said, ither gained I ' therefore they are classified as a non- i labor force: Stabon area Thirsty Turtle to 1966 and Duddleys Draw to 1959. Another problem Northgate businesses could face is what to do in case of a fire. Many of the bars are overcrowded, especially on weekends, said Fire Marshall Harry L. Davis. Davis said the danger with over crowding is that too many people in the businesses tend to block fire ex its. He said on March 6 he issued one of the bars a citation for overcrowd ing. Fines for this offense can be up to $200. Canter said the Dixie Chicken has been cited once, but “it (the citation) was thrown out of court. ” Davis also said he wasn’t sure what the legal capacities for the buildings are because the Dixie Chicken has been expanded and because records are not up to date. Most of the owners know the legal capacities. Canter said the capacity of the Dixie Chicken is 275. Sebas tian said the legal capacity of the Ala mo is 150, and he limits the number of people he lets in. Benning said,“We try to keep limits on people. Duddleys Draw has a capacity of about 200.” He added that Duddleys Draw doesn’t have much standing room. “Our tables don’t leave much room for standing customers.” Mogford said the Thirsty Turtle doesn’t have an overcrowding prob- The only problem with Northgate is that it is a downtown to col lege students, and be cause of the “gas crunch” many stu dents walk over to the businesses instead of driving somewhere else, causing a prob lem with people being out in the street. -Don Gan ter, a Dixie Chicken owner. lem and that he doesn’t know the Thirsty Turtle’s capacity. A typical Aggie crowd jams into the Dixie Chicken, one of several Northgate bars ex periencing crowding problems. Some owners Staff photo by Jeff Kerber have suggested closing the University Drive entrances to the taverns and opening on Patri cia Street one block behind. One of the businesses that has done something about overcrowding is the Dixie Chicken. Canter said the business has expanded, and now has more room for its customers. Miran da’s, another bar, was purchased and turned into a new part of the Dixie Chicken. Davis said this expansion has helped. “Since they expanded it, the Dixie Chicken doesn’t seem to be as crowded as it was,” he said. Davis said these buildings do not have sprinkler systems for fires, and if there was a fire, many people could be killed. Mogford said that although he doesn’t have a sprinkler system, he does have three exits. All of the other buildings have at least two doors, he added. 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Docksides by Sebago Although originally a deck shoe for the sporting sailor, this handsewn moccasin is a great casual shoe that gets better with age. Weather treated elk-tanned cowhide with leather laces, $44. Tartan Muffler A true gentljsmanshpwsTiis tartan colors when he keeps but df che'^inteY wind with a soft, lux urious, brushed lafnhswool muffler. Authentic tartans and solids, $22.50. Townshire 1919 Texas • Bryan •V$MSC AGGIE FREE MOVIE ;ed with tit 1 ional and st* eclined by onforming use, which exempts ' em from the ordinances. It: “The Alamo was the first building built in College Station,” said Sebas tian. “I had to completely re-do it.” He said it was built in 1926. The other buildings are not as old. Terry Holliman, who works in the nmggro" : College Station Tax Office, said the ttuctaandijpjxie Chicken dates to 1967) - 3.5percenW •ically d in ed 360 work* of the nontf oeriencede SPECIAL DINNER £3.50 NOON BCFEET £3.39 Monday thru Friday SUNDAY EVENING BUFFET £4.35 All You Can Eatl Marvelous Peking-Szechwan and Cantonese Dishes • Take Out Orders the OPEN DAILY 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. 1313 S). College Ave. 822-7661 percent wlti r 1979. MafS 1 percentwlt Congratulations :ss Intemitkri ALLS-Siij has been deed '0 million pld up to 430 pilot ries. sters from tie d an agreen* im, selecting' ftheprogi* 1 , 1981, anirl id Wednest its from Bf-i rk, West Cfli e Netherlanf turkey, del e United St# program, 'utch, Ceriir ilots are ining at llK city, MARY LYNN §••• IMMMIKIN/DflD NIVEN They’re having the time of their lives, committing the crime of a lifetime. ImmmmM '. \ v HID IKK 11 PG PWttHTW. 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