Keeping a promise

Some people make promises they don't intend d to keep, but Patrick Buck has kept his word. In a time when people say one thing and do another, Buck should be commended for doing exactly what he said he would do.

Buck closed the Taste, an after-hours club on Good Hope Street in Cape Girardeau last week, and neighbors are thankful. He told the mayor and city council members of the closing during last week's council meeting.

Weeks earlier, Buck had been before the council to talk about the problems his business was posing for the neighborhood. He said he would close if the problems persisted.

For years, the former Taste Lounge, which served alcoholic beverages, operated as a tavern and attracted countless complaints from neighbors about the trash, noise, violence and drunken and unruly crowds that stemmed from the business. Police stepped up patrols and tried to curb the complaints.

City officials thought they'd solved the Taste's problems in 2001 when council members revoked the previous owner's liquor license. But when Buck opened the lounge as an after-hours club in October the problems appeared again.

When a young man was killed outside the club on New Year's Day, public outcry grew louder.

This time, neighbors petitioned the council asking it to consider an ordinance regulating after-hours clubs in the city.

Buck said last week he didn't want to get into a fight with neighbors and won't reopen the club. The mayor praised him for keeping his word. Neighbors hope something good comes from the closing.

But it's unlikely that The Taste and the problems it created in the neighborhood will just vanish. Closing The Taste is like ending a chapter in the book: It's not the conclusion.

The building still exists and easily could be opened as another bar -- provided the city grants a liquor license -- or some other type of business. Let's hope any new business owners will be as willing as Buck to work with the neighborhood if problems arise.