BAR LOCATION POSES PROBLEM FOR APPLICANT

Getting a liquor license in Cape Girardeau is never simple, but for Willie Charles Hammonds the process seems never-ending.

Hammonds wants to open a bar called Strictly Business at 625 Good Hope. Trouble is, that location is within 200 feet of two churches -- St. Mary's Cathedral and the Salvation Army. In addition, Cape Girardeau public schools has an alternative learning center inside the Salvation Army building.

City law states no bar can operate within 200 feet of a school, church or other building regularly used for religious worship. To open at 625 Good Hope, Hammonds needs written permission from St. Mary's, the Salvation Army and the school district.

Hammonds applied for his liquor license in July, expecting it to be quickly approved by the Cape Girardeau City Council. At first, clergy at St. Mary's objected; the Salvation Army didn't say anything either way. The process dragged on.

But there is a way around the law, and Hammonds said he is ready to use it. He could buy only a merchant's license and then operate Strictly Business as a private club, charging a membership fee to people who enter. They would bring their own liquor, but Hammonds would be allowed to sell glasses of ice, juice and other non-alcoholic products.

That is something Cape Girardeau city officials said they don't want to see happen.

With a city liquor license, the City Council, city manager, chief of police, health officer or anyone the city designates could search the bar "at reasonable times," according to city ordinance. Otherwise, police must have a search warrant to get into the bar.

Capt. Steve Strong, interim police chief, said he remembers problems with a private club that was open in the 1980s. Named the Sportsmen's Club, it was on South Sprigg, and calls poured in about incidents there.

"We would get a complaint at the Sportmen's Club, and we would be met by a locked door," Strong said. "We would be yelling at them through the glass and may or may not gain entry. A call that could have been handled in five minutes would take 45 minutes, and if you were trying to catch a violation, it would be long over."

Mayor Al Spradling III said if he has a choice between a regular bar or a private club, he wants Strictly Business to get a liquor license. That would make it easier to control, he said.

For that reason, city personnel have been working with school and church officials to make them understand their choices.

Capt. Joyce Gauthier at the Salvation Army said she and her husband, Capt. Robert Gauthier, plan to give written permission to Strictly Business.

"We really don't want them to have anything like this so close to the church," Joyce Gauthier said. "But we have come to the conclusion that it is better for them so that police can come and take care of problems."

Hammonds' license won't be on tonight's City Council agenda; there isn't enough time for the school board to meet and decide whether to grant permission for the bar. It likely will come up again next month.

In the meantime, Hammonds is anxious to get his bar open.

"The older blacks in town feel they don't have a place to go," he said. "I told both those churches I would be willing to donate to their recreation programs if I get opened."